The Revolutionary Driver
by 808MaiTai
Summary: Utena is the Revolutionary Driver, the one destined for the powers. She arrives at Ohtori with a plan to conquer the power and teach the amateurs a lesson, but she never planned on her brother being a Council member...or falling in love with his best bud.
1. Prologue

Title: The Revolutionary Driver  
  
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS THAT ARE MENTIONED IN SAILOR MOON, INITIAL D, AND REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA. I JUST OWN THE CHARACTERS THAT I CAME UP WITH (hee-hee).  
  
AN: Hey everybody! This is my first and only fanfic right now. I would appreciate any opinions but please keep them polite. Thanx!  
  
Prologue  
  
The gentle breeze in the cool fall night told a different story than the roads of Mount Akina. The sleek, silver Mazda Enfini RX-7 FD3S whipped around the corners of Mount Akina with an air of professional ease. It was clear that an experienced driver drove the fast car. The FD3S took the corners at an incredible speed, never seeming to slow down the slightest bit. Another racer would think the car was a phantom FD3S by watching its cornering and drifting. And that's exactly what the group of young racers thought as they watched from the rooftop of a nearby building.  
  
"Wow," muttered Yaten Kou, his eyes glued to the FD3S as it sped through yet another turn. "That's one heck of a car."  
  
"That's one heck of a driver," added Taiki Kou. "If the one driving that thing is a human, anyway."  
  
"Touga, could it be.the prophesied racer?" Seiya Kou asked, looking up at the taller man with orange hair that was cut just below his shoulders.  
  
Touga Kiryuu studied the car for a few moments. Then he said, "There's a strong possibility. This could be the driver, the Revolutionary Driver."  
  
"So that means."Miki Kaoru trailed off and looked at Touga sharply.  
  
"Yes Miki, the races will be coming to an end, but not very soon. The racer has yet to show himself and prove his worth, "Touga replied calmly. "Who he is and when he will show himself, I do not know."  
  
"We should keep a closer eye on the races, "Taiki speculated.  
  
"I want to keep this driver a secret. The others know about the Revolutionary Racer, but they don't know that we may have found him. Tell no one about this," Touga looked at each of the Student Council High Officers closely as he said this.  
  
The others nodded to the Student Council President's orders. "It's getting late. We should head back to the academy." Touga started to the stairwell door and the others followed. Miki held back and watched the FD3S speed out of sight over the mountain before following the others. 'This is the beginning.' he thought.  
  
To Be Continued. 


	2. Chapter 1

AN: Hey guys! This is the first chapter of my first ever fanfic. Please review. Tell me what you think, all opinions are welcome. ^_^  
  
Chapter 1: A New Student  
  
A girl with long dark brown hair and blond streaks walked through the gates of Ohtori Private Academy. She looked around the courtyard and saw students dressed in the required academy uniforms looking back at her curiously. Some teenagers whispered to each other and glanced at her. The girl just ignored the stares she was getting and strode into the white marble building that stood before her. The brown haired girl went down the long, well-furnished hall and rounded the corner, only to bump into someone who was heading in the opposite direction.  
  
"Oh! Sorry! I am so clumsy," she apologized to the taller person and bent to retrieve the books that that person had dropped when they had collided.  
  
"That's alright," came the gentle, deep male voice. He also got down on his knees to pick up his books. The girl sat back and looked up to see a pair of blue eyes staring into her own. She pulled her eyes away from those alluring eyes to see that the person was a cute guy with short blue hair and a small smile on his handsome face. "I think it was my fault. I should really stop reading while I'm walking," he said and held out his hand to help her up.  
  
The sixteen-year-old girl accepted his hand and smiled, "Thanks. By the way, I'm Utena, a new student here."  
  
"I'm Miki Kaoru. Welcome the Ohtori Private Academy," Miki shook her hand gently and looked into her deep blue eyes, the same shade as his own, which were staring straight back into his.  
  
"Miki! We have a meeting. President Touga called a sudden meeting. He said- "the short, silver haired guy stopped short when he saw that Miki wasn't even listening to him and was staring into the eyes of a beautiful girl and holding her hand. The girl wore curve hugging blue pants and a red spaghetti strap shirt. Her outfit accentuated her hair perfectly. He tapped the seventeen-year-old guy on the shoulder.  
  
Miki quickly dropped Utena's hand and tore his eyes away from hers to look at the silver haired man. "Yes? Oh, Yaten? What is it?"  
  
"Uh, Touga called a meeting for all high office members. He says he's found some information," Yaten said hastily.  
  
"Okay. Miss Utena, this is Yaten Kou. Yaten this is Utena, a new student as of today," Miki introduced.  
  
"Hello Miss Utena. Welcome to our academy," Yaten greeted and nodded his head to her.  
  
"Oh please, both of you, don't call me Miss. Please call me Utena." Utena smiled softly.  
  
"Well, Utena, we have to be going. If you'd like, I could show you around the campus, seeing as you're new here," Miki offered.  
  
"Sure, that'd be great." Utena smiled warmly at him and waved as she headed to the administration office. Miki smiled and Yaten elbowed him in the side saying, "Come on, quit staring and let's go. Seiya and Taiki are already there."  
  
Miki blushed, embarrassed at being caught staring after a girl. They hurried past the office to the Student Council Meeting Room. 'She seems so familiar,' thought Miki confused, 'It's like I know her. But I can't know her, she's new here.' Miki frowned and followed Yaten into the room, thinking hard.  
  
***  
  
Meanwhile, in the administration office.  
  
Utena looked around the spacious office and saw a thin-middle aged woman writing on a clipboard at the counter. The brown haired girl approached her, pulling out a copy of her registration papers just in case the school hadn't received them yet. "Excuse me?" The woman looked up. "Yes?" she asked in an authorized tone. "I'm Utena Tenjou, a new student." The woman glanced distastefully at Utena's clothes before reaching under the counter and producing a thick manila folder.  
  
"Tenjou, Utena, correct?" the woman replied and handed Utena her schedule, dorm room information paper and her dorm room key, tight-lipped. "I advise you to change into your uniform before you attend your classes," the woman ordered and turned back to her clipboard. The bell for the start of school rang and she heard the hurried steps of the students as they went to their class. Utena took the woman's actions as a dismissal and quickly walked out of the office, not wanting to be in the woman's presence any longer.  
  
Utena followed her map out of the building and to the far-left side of the campus, to a tall, brown mansion-looking building. 'So this is the East Hall huh,' thought Utena and looked at the building, noting that it was well taken care of. She used her key to enter the dorm building and looked at her paper to find that her room was on the second floor. Utena leisurely climbed the stairs and went to the last door on the right. The new student slowly opened the door and gasped when she saw that her room was even more exquisite than the inside of the downstairs living room had been.  
  
The room was painted a soft blue and had a queen-sized bed with matching pale-blue bedcovers and sheets. There was a small table in the middle of the big room; on top of it was a small vase with blue roses. There was a desk with a gray-laptop and a set of expensive-looking calligraphy pens with special calligraphy-writing papers. "Wow. I think I'm gonna like it here," Utena said aloud to herself. She went to the closet and found identical two academy uniforms.  
  
"Ugh," she said and frowned at the short dark blue skirt and white shirt with a "sailor's scarf" at the back of the neck. The shirt was a button- up, crisp blouse. Hanging on another hanger was a pink jacket with blue trimmings. "I have to wear this?! This-this skirt and blouse?!" exclaimed the girl who never wore skirts or blouses, and hardly ever dresses. Utena slammed the closet door shut and turned toward the door with the intent of heading back to the office and demanding a uniform that at least consisted of pants and a regular shirt, but stopped when she saw the figure standing at the door. "Oh hi. Who are you?"  
  
"Hi, I'm sorry to disturb you. I'm Ami Mizuno. I was chosen to show you to your classes," the girl answered quietly.  
  
"I'm Utena. I have a question. Does every girl have to wear this uniform?" Utena asked with a frown.  
  
"Yes," short-blue haired Ami answered and Utena sighed. "But you can take it up to the Student Council. They make most of the rules around here. They have a lot of power and authority at Ohtori Private Academy."  
  
"Really?" Utena looked hopeful.  
  
"Yeah, but they only allow cases after classes. So you'll have to wear the uniform to your classes today. Utena's smile faded and she sighed. Utena went back to the closet and reluctantly pulled out the uniform. "I guess it'll do for today."  
  
Ami left to give Utena privacy to change and soon they were heading to their first class. "You were given the same classes as me so that I could show you around."  
  
"Oh, somebody asked me if they could show me around, this morning," Utena commented, her black book bag slung over her shoulder in a tomboyish fashion.  
  
"Oh really? Who?" Ami looked at Utena curiously.  
  
"Some guy named Miki Kaoru," Utena replied nonchantly.  
  
Ami stopped in her tracks and Utena stopped to see what had caused her sudden silence. "Miki Kaoru?! As in the genius of Ohtori?! You're joking!"  
  
Utena raised an eyebrow. "The "genius" of Ohtori? I didn't know he was a genius. But no, I'm not joking."  
  
"Really? Wow! Miki's one of the most sought after guy here, after Touga, Seiya, Yaten, Taiki, and Julius that is." Ami told her, starting to walk again.  
  
It was Utena's turn to be surprised. "Julius is one of the popular guys here? Whoa. I guess he's changed a lot."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, Julius Tenjou is my older brother."  
  
"No way!" Ami looked at her in disbelief.  
  
"It's true. He's older than I am by a year. I haven't seen him for over 5 years. He knows I'm coming here to this school but he thinks I'm coming next week. It's supposed to be a surprise," Utena explained to Ami.  
  
"Wow. You're so lucky to have Julius as your brother. You'll have a ton of friends in no time. Flat," Ami said, looking down at the ground.  
  
"Hey, I have one friend already," Utena said cheerfully, slinging her arm around Ami's shoulders and giving her a hug. Ami smiled brightly and Utena got the impression that this girl wasn't that popular.  
  
They reached their first period class and Utena started her first day of school at Ohtori Private Academy.  
  
To Be Continued... 


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Brother  
  
"Utena! Ami! Over here!" Utena looked around for the person who had called her name and spotted the group of her new friends. Minako Aino, Makoto Kino, Serena Tsukino, and Rei Hino were Ami's best friends and Utena had felt immediately at ease when she was first introduced to them. She grabbed Ami's wrist and pulled her, the two of them laughing, over to the three girls who were sitting under a huge tree in the beautiful and crowded courtyard.  
  
Utena set down her lunch tray next to Makoto and sat down, careful to watch her short skirt like the other girls were doing. Ami sat down next to her. "Hey guys. How were classes?"  
  
"They were boring as usual," Minako and Serena answered together.  
  
"Mina, Sere, you guys should pay attention in class," genius-girl Ami reprimanded the two long blond haired girls.  
  
"I know, I know. But that's easy for you Ami. You love to study. I don't." Ami gave Mina look and Mina quickly stuffed her mouth with a bite of her turkey sandwich.  
  
"So anyway," raven haired Rei started, but she stopped, staring at something behind Utena and Ami. All the girls followed Rei's stare and saw five guys talking to three girls who were pointing towards them. The guys looked towards them and walked closer to them. "Oh my gosh, it's Seiya," Serena whispered excitedly, "and he's coming over here!"  
  
Utena recognized Miki walking next to the three guys with identical ponytails, one of which was Yaten Kou, the guy she had met earlier that day, and a slightly familiar guy with dark brown hair and blond streaks in his short shaggy hair. Utena looked hard at the brown haired guy who was staring straight at her and suddenly her eyes widened. She jumped up, yelled, "Julius!", and ran toward him. She flung her arms around the grinning young man's neck and hugged him.  
  
"Hey Utena. Long time no see," her older brother hugged her tightly back. Many of the students who were eating their own lunches in the courtyard looked at the scene, wondering who that girl was and why she was hugging one of the most popular guy in school like he was her best friend.  
  
"I missed you Jul," Utena said. She pulled back from her older brother to get a good look at him now that she was closer up. Her brother had definitely been lifting weights and had been keeping in shape. He had the same annoying, teasing sparkle in his eyes.  
  
"I missed you too, but I thought you weren't getting here until next week. When Miki told me he had met an attractive, new girl named Utena with dark brown and blond streaked hair in the hallways, I knew it was you," third year Julius Tenjou replied.  
  
"He said that?" Utena looked at Miki who flushed a light pink. She smiled at him and turned back to her brother. "I wanted to surprise you."  
  
Yaten elbowed Julius in the side and Julius looked at the other guys. "Oh! Utena, these are some good friends of mine. This is Yaten, Taiki, and Seiya Kou. They're the popular band called the Three Lights." Julius gestured to the three young men with the ponytails. Utena figured out that Taiki was the one with the long dark brown hair and Seiya was the one with the long raven-black hair, and of course she knew who Yaten was. "Guys, this is my younger sister, Utena Tenjou. She's been living with my mom after my parents got the divorce."  
  
"Hi." Utena nodded to the three who had greeted her in unison.  
  
"Hey Utena, why didn't you tell me you were Julius's sister," Miki asked Utena.  
  
"I didn't think you knew Julius." Utena smiled.  
  
"Miki and I have been best friends for about four years now, Utena. I hate to admit to you, but I'm not the scrawny big brother I was back then," Julius laughed.  
  
The five teens sat down next to the other girls.  
  
"Hi Ami," Taiki greeted. He smiled to the genius girl who was friendly, academic competition for him.  
  
"Hello Taiki."  
  
"Hey Serena," Seiya said to the girl whom he had had a secret crush on ever since he had first met her.  
  
"Hey," Serena replied and grinned, a faint color of pink tingeing her cheeks. Serena had started liking Seiya from around the same time as Seiya had started liking her, but neither of them knew of the other' feelings. The same went for Taiki and Ami. Their friends had decided to let the two couples figure it out for themselves.  
  
"Hi Yaten!" exclaimed Mina jumping into the arms of her favorite Light.  
  
"Ugh, Mina! Get off!" Yaten yelled his voice muffled from under Mina. "You're heavy!"  
  
Rei and Makoto pulled Mina off Yaten and he gave the two girls grateful looks, even though inside, he enjoyed the fact that Mina paid so much attention to him.  
  
"Utena, weren't you going to speak to the Student Council about your uniform?" Ami reminded the girl who was sitting between her brother and Miki.  
  
"Oh that's right. I forgot. I should go now." Utena stood up and Miki and Julius stood.  
  
"We're on the Student Council too," Julius spoke for both of them. "So if you have something to bring before the Student Council, we should be there."  
  
"You're on the Student Council? Wow, you've really changed." Utena looked at her brother in silence for a few seconds and then nodded.  
  
"Okay then, let's go."  
  
"Wait for us." Seiya and his two brothers stood up to follow them, but Julius motioned for them to sit back down. "You guys have never missed a meeting ever since you joined the Student Council; I think you three deserve a break. I'll tell Touga that I let you stay."  
  
"You sure?" Taiki asked, hesitant.  
  
"Yeah, I'm sure. Have fun." He waved to them as he, Miki, and Utena headed off across the grass. They went into the main building of the academy and walked down the long hall. Utena was unsure where they were going so she followed a half step behind the two guys.  
  
"So Utena. What's the problem?" Miki asked her.  
  
"You see this uniform?" Utena gestured to her clothing. Miki nodded. "I want a uniform that has pants or shorts and a regular shirt."  
  
"Why?" Miki asked with a questioning frown.  
  
Utena gave him a secretive smile. "You'll have to wait and see." They arrived at an elegant oak wood door at the end of a side hallway and Julius opened the door and let Utena enter first. He followed Miki and let the door close after them.  
  
To Be Continued. 


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The President  
  
Utena looked around the beautifully furnished room, which was much more expensive looking than her own dormitory, and saw a tall young man with shoulder length orange hair sitting at a desk on the raised, carpeted platform. He appeared to be busy writing something on a piece of calligraphy paper with a fashionable calligraphy ink pen. Julius cleared his throat softly and the young man stopped writing. He looked up to reveal a handsome and mysterious face. He folded the paper as he stood and put the paper in an envelope, which he put in a side drawer in the desk. The guy then walked around the desk and stood before the three younger teens. "Miki, Julius, what do you need?" He asked in his deep voice, looking not at the two young men but at the young serene woman who stood between them.  
  
"Mr. President. This is my younger sister, Utena. She has just transferred to Ohtori Private Academy today. She has a complaint to bring before the Council. Seiya, Taiki, and Yaten were given my permission to have leave from this meeting, considering that they have never been absent at any meetings in the past." Julius took on a respective and formal tone of voice, one that Utena had never imagined her goofy brother could take on. She felt the steady gaze of the man on her so she turned her eyes to meet his dark blue eyes.  
  
"Miss Utena Tenjou, I am the Student Council President. What is your complaint?" Student Council President Touga asked. Utena stepped forward and said in a clear voice, "I would like a change of uniform. This uniform, which I am wearing, will not be suitable for the activities I plan to pursue."  
  
"And what, may I ask, activities do you plan to take part in?" Touga questioned, his right eyebrow raised.  
  
"I plan to join the softball team, basketball team, kick boxing club, martial arts club, and archery team. I understand that the archery team, martial arts club, and the kick boxing club have certain uniforms, which the members change into before matches and practice sessions. But it would be extremely easier for me, and much more comfortable if I were able to wear shorts or pants and a shirt, like the boys' uniforms instead of this one," Utena gestured again to her outfit. She looked back up at the President of the Student Council who was studying her. 'Most likely judging my character and argument,' she thought.  
  
The Student Council President finally nodded and Utena smiled. He said, "Very well. I will have someone bring you a new uniform tomorrow."  
  
"Thank you," Utena bowed her head slightly in respect.  
  
"Now, why don't we lose the formalism? I'm Touga Kiryuu. And it is a pleasure to meet you." Touga took Utena's hand and kissed it in the old- fashioned custom. Utena hid her frown as he touched his lips to her hand gently and looked at her in the eyes. Unknown to the three other people, Miki was silently gritting his teeth with jealousy at Touga's show of mild affection for the beautiful girl.  
  
"I'm glad to have met you too," Utena replied uncomfortably and quickly pulled her hand out of his grasp. "I should be getting back to the girls. They must be wondering what is taking so long."  
  
"Maybe we should get together sometime and get to know each other." Julius's eyebrows rose as Touga suggested this. Then he frowned and said, "Utena's right. We should be getting back. I left Seiya, Taiki, and Yaten with them and Yaten will be angry with me for taking so long."  
  
"Oh I'm sure Yaten is enjoying Minako's attention, he just isn't showing it," Touga commented and looked at Utena, who moved back to stand next to her brother and Miki. "But I'm sure Utena is anxious to receive her new uniform so I will get on it right now." Touga moved back to his desk. "You are dismissed."  
  
Utena quickly led the other two people out of the room and down the hall. Julius waited until they had passed around the third corner before blurting out, "Utena, do not go out with him. If I hear that you so much as went somewhere with him, I'll-"  
  
"Don't worry Julius," Utena cut in. "I don't even like him. He's too forward." Julius opened his mouth to comment more but Utena knew what he was about to say, "Julius, I can take care of myself. I've been in the martial arts club back in Crossroads for over 4 and half years. So don't worry about him forcing himself on me or something like that."  
  
"What? I didn't know that," Julius said surprised. "Well, just watch out. Touga's considered the biggest playboy at Ohtori," he warned.  
  
"Yeah, yeah. Hey Miki, so you're on the student council too huh? Maybe you could give me that tour now?" Utena turned to Miki a smile brightening her face.  
  
Julius looked at Miki suspiciously and Miki stuttered, "Uh, y-yeah, let's do that."  
  
"Okay, let me just go and grab my bag from the girls." Utena jogged up to the girls who were having a good time with the Three Lights.  
  
Julius turned Miki. "Are you trying to ask her out? Did you ask her out?"  
  
"No way man. I just didn't know she was your little sister when I offered to show her around the school this morning," Miki quickly answered, raising his hands to defend himself. "Honest."  
  
Julius looked towards Utena for a few moments. She was laughing about something with her new friends. He looked back at Miki and said with a smile, "Just don't hurt her okay? Or else you'll be dealing with me."  
  
Miki stared at the over-protective older brother of Utena with a startled expression. He understood that Julius was giving him permission to date Utena and that surprised him. He quickly replaced his expression with a grin and said to Julius, "Thanks Jul. I would never hurt her. I-I think I like her too much. It's like I know her from somewhere, or something like that."  
  
Julius frowned. "How can you know her if you only met her today?" He asked confused.  
  
"That's just it. I don't know." Miki quickly stopped talking when he saw Utena approaching them with an eager smile. "So you ready to go Utena?" Miki asked, glancing at Utena.  
  
"Yeah, let's go. Sorry Julius, but you're not invited on this tour," Utena told him.  
  
"That's okay. Have fun guys." Julius waved to them and went over to the group of friends under the tree.  
  
"So where are we going first?" Utena asked.  
  
"Why don't I show you around the main building first, and then the East and West Halls?" he suggested.  
  
"Sure." The two set off while Miki told her about the school and the best things there were to do at Ohtori Private Academy as they walked.  
  
To Be Continued. 


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Interrupted Race  
  
At the top of Mount Akina, ten cars were parked on one of the steep mountain's back roads. There was a red Honda Civic Sir EG-6, a blue Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 3 GSR, a black Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 2 GSR, an orange Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 4 GSR, and a silver-green Toyota SW20 Mr-2 G-Limited. And also a dark purple Nissan Sileighty, a white Mazda Savanna RX-7 FC3S, a yellow Mazda Enfini RX-7 FD3S, a pale blue Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR32), and a silver and black Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205. The drivers of the cars were gathered near the Evo 4. Two of the young people walked a little ways from the group and talked in low voices.  
  
"Touga, do you think he'll show up here?" Seiya asked.  
  
"I'm not sure. But I know he will come here soon," Touga replied. He looked back at the group of Council members who were talking about tonight's race. "I think it's time to start the race." Seiya nodded and went over to the others.  
  
"Racers, get your cars up to the line," Seiya told them and two teenagers headed for their cars. Kelly Arakaki, the current victor of the races, drove her silver and black Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205 up to the line. The challenger, Keisuke Takahashi drove his yellow Mazda Enfini RX-7 FD3S up next to Kelly's car. The both revved their engines and focused on Teiya Gardner who was the traditional starter of the races.  
  
"Starting the countdown," Teiya yelled over the engines and Seiya, Taiki, Yaten Kou, Ryosuke Takahashi, Touga Kiryuu, Julius Tenjou, Miki Kaoru, and Nausicaa Kazei all stepped back to the side of the road. "5...4...3...2.1...Go!" Teiya dropped her hand and the two cars pealed past her. All the teens held their breaths as they watched the two high-speed cars heading into the first turn. Keisuke's FD3S pulled ahead of Kelly's Celica and took the outside corner to prep for the upcoming sharp curve. They disappeared from view as they swerved around the turn. The other teenagers could hear the squealing of the two cars' tires.  
  
Touga slowly climbed into his orange Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4 and called to the other drivers who were not racing, "Let's go people," and started up his car as the others climbed into their own cars. Touga drove quickly down the road but nowhere near the speed that the two racers drove at. The two had been going at 60 miles per hour at the least. He took his time taking turns in drifts and the lower Student Council members followed in his wake. There was no doubt that Touga was an achieved driver and his great handling on his Evo 4 showed this. Ryosuke Takahashi, the older and more experienced driver of Keisuke, and who was right behind Touga, was a famous racecar driver. He sometimes did the downhill during meets on Saturday nights.  
  
Meanwhile, about halfway down the mountain, the two challenging cars were taking the corners at high speeds. They were nearing the Five Deadly Hair Pins of Mount Akina. The Five Deadly Hairpins were corners that were famous for claiming the lives of many past downhill racers. These five sharp U- turns were the most dangerous corners in Akina and Myogi, another city south of Akina. Keisuke's FD3S was in the lead but Kelly's GT-Four was right on his fender. They rounded the turns and the GT-Four was slowing going into the corners while the FD3S was going in at mach speed and coming out with its tires stabilized and its engine rumbling at the same speed.  
  
As the FD3S slid around the last hairpin, with the GT-Four still on its tail, Keisuke suddenly noticed a single head light coming up the mountain. 'A motorcyclist?! On Mount Akina? What the hell?!' he thought and flipped on his yield lights as he slowly slowed down. Both cars came to a complete stop on the left side of the road.  
  
Kelly climbed out of her GT-Four and stalked over to Keisuke's FD3S of which he was getting out of. "What the hell is your problem?! Why'd you stop the race?" she exclaimed, her hands on her hips as she glared at him.  
  
Keisuke just looked off into the night, never taking his eyes off the headlight that was fast approaching them. "Look," he said quietly and pointed out to the headlight. Kelly's eyes widened as she realized what could have happened. If Keisuke hadn't spotted the motorcyclist, they wouldn't have stopped and could possibly hit the motorcyclist. She narrowed her eyes and grumbled under her breath, "What the hell does that person think he's doing? He's dumb if he thinks motorcycling up Mount Akina at night is okay."  
  
Keisuke replied, "I dunno what he's thinking, but we're about to find out." Keisuke climbed back into his car, leaving the door open and drove his car into the middle of the road. He turned off the engine and got back out, closing the car door. The rumble of the motorcycle engine could be heard and it got louder. A sleek Nissan Ninja 4000 (I dunno about this one) came into view of the FD's highlighted headlights. It looked to Keisuke and Kelly like the motorcyclist had not expected a car to be parked in the middle of the road and hit the brakes. Keisuke suddenly realized what was going to happen and yelled to Kelly, "Get outta the way!" jumping behind his FD. Kelly followed him and they watched in horror as the bike careened toward the FD at mach speed.  
  
Suddenly, the bike seemed to be turned by an invisible force and steered clear of the car, barely missing it by mere inches. The motorcyclist sped past the car and pulled to a u-turn stop a few yards behind them. The rider cut the engine, pulling off her helmet as she got off the bike angrily. "Hey! What's the big idea?! You could've killed someone like that with your FD in the center of the road!" the girl stormed over to the two people who stared at her with shock.  
  
"Y-you're a girl?!" Kelly exclaimed, her eyes wide.  
  
"Last time I checked I was," she retorted.  
  
"What the hell are you doing driving up Mount Akina at night?! You could've been killed if we hadn't stopped our race!" Kelly screamed at the biker. The girl was dressed in a black, one-piece racing suit and had her black helmet under her arm. Her suit flattered her figure, not that it needed flattering that is.  
  
The girl opened her mouth to respond but Keisuke, who suddenly stepped forward, cut her off. "What's that?" he asked her urgently, pointing at something around her neck. She looked down and all she saw was her silver necklace. A star pendant hung on a plain silver chain.  
  
"This necklace? Why do you want to know?" She asked suspiciously. Kelly's eyes widened when she saw the necklace and she looked sharply up at the girl again.  
  
"Who are you? And why do you have the Silver Star necklace?" Kelly demanded.  
  
"My name's Utena and I don't have to tell you anything about my necklace," Utena replied and tucked the necklace safely under her racing suit.  
  
"What do you mean? That's our symbol! Tell us now!" Kelly took a step forward but Keisuke stopped her.  
  
"Kelly, calm down," Keisuke said. He turned back to Utena, "I'm Keisuke. This is Kelly. Can you at least tell us how you came to have the necklace?"  
  
The girl opened her mouth to reply but was cut off yet again, this time by the arrival of eight other cars that pulled up with screeching tires behind her bike.  
  
To Be Continued. 


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: She What?!  
  
Touga, Julius, Miki, Seiya, Taiki, Yaten, Ryosuke, and Nausicaa all jumped out of the driver side of their cars. "Utena?!" Julius shouted and ran over to her, not even bothering to close his car door.  
  
"Julius? What are you doing here?" Utena asked calmly, already knowing the answer.  
  
"I'm here on Student Council business. What are you doing here?" Julius looked at her outfit, the helmet tucked under her arm, and the sleek bike in front of her.  
  
"I was just going for a ride and these two parked their cars in the middle of the road, "Utena glared at Keisuke and Kelly.  
  
"You shouldn't be riding at night on an unfamiliar road, Utena!" Julius said frustrated. Miki, Seiya, Taiki, and Yaten were staring at Utena in astonishment at what she was dressed in and the bike in front of her.  
  
"For your information Julius, I've ridden on this course for a few weeks now! And, I've been riding and racing motorcycles since I was 7 years old, so I think I know how to ride one!" Utena yelled back at him. "Cousin Kaneda taught me how."  
  
"W-what?" Julius was taken aback at what she said. "You've been racing motorcycles?! Are you crazy?! That's too dangerous for you!" He yelled, running a hand through his hair in frustration.  
  
"Julius, don't tell me what's dangerous and what's not! You Student Council members are participating in these Revolutionary Races and you think motorcycling is dangerous?" Utena glared at them. "I can take care of myself! You have no idea what's the whole deal with these competitions. You don't know what will happen."  
  
Julius stared at her openmouthed. "How do you know about the races?" Seiya demanded. "Did you tell her, Kelly? Keisuke?"  
  
"We didn't tell her anything. She knows about them somehow and she has the Silver Star necklace, just like us," Kelly spoke up. The Student Council members all looked sharply at Utena and she frowned.  
  
"I'm sick of this crap. I'm outta here." Utena strode over to her bike and climbed on. Julius stalked over to her and grabbed her arm.  
  
"Not until you tell me what's going on," Julius ordered her. "You're my baby sister."  
  
"Let go of me. And if you haven't noticed by now, I am not a little kid." Utena glared at him and jerked her arm out of his grasp. "You know what?" she said as she started up her engine, "I should have stayed with Mom. At least she say anything about my racing; she didn't even know about it. In fact, she didn't know ANYTHING that went on with my life. She actually stayed out of it."  
  
Julius looked at her in surprise as she kick-started the bike angrily. She jerked her helmet on and pulled it tight with a snap. Utena looked at them and said, "Oh, and one more thing," Utena flipped up the visor of the helmet, "if you're waiting for the Revolutionary Driver, he won't show tonight, so go back to the academy." She pulled the visor back down and then spun the bike around, burning rubber and kicking up gravel. Utena narrowed her eyes and pulled up the front of the heavy bike, going into a rear-wheelie to gain more speed. Julius headed for his car as she roared out of sight and climbed in.  
  
"Julius! Where are you going?!" Miki called, running over to him, worried.  
  
"I'm gonna go talk some sense into her! She's too angry to be driving right now!" Julius yelled as he started up the ignition with a roar. The tires of the black Evo 2 spun and Julius pulled out of there, with the intention of stopping Utena and taking away her keys. He sped down the mountain as he strapped his two shoulder seatbelts on. Julius thought, 'Damn Utena! Why didn't you tell me in your letters about motorcycle racing and Mom not even knowing about you life?! I'm your big brother for god sakes!' Julius took a big breath and focused on the road. He searched the base of the mountain in front of him for a single headlight and a glowing red light. He spotted one going around the curve about half a mile in front of him and he sped up.  
  
Julius inched up closer to Utena's bike and when the motorcycle went faster, Julius knew that she knew someone was following her. Julius saw the black clad figure lean closer to her bike and thought, 'I gotta admit, my little sister knows how to ride.' Julius saw the sharp hairpin about half a mile in front of them and he gasped. He yelled as though he wished Utena could hear him, "Utena! Watch out!"  
  
But the motorcycle kept on rushing in at mach speed. Julius kept right up behind her but he knew he would have to slow down eventually. He chose sooner and let up on the gas pedal. He tapped the brake pedal and the car slowed, but not that much, only enough to a point where Julius knew he could corner without spinning out. He watched in horror as Utena's bike almost reached the start of the turn.  
  
Julius gritted his teeth and hoped for the best, but suddenly, Utena's bike turned and the bike seemed to corner the hairpin. His eyes widened as he watched the bike easily make the turn and screech away from his headlights, off into the dark night. Julius drifted around the turn and he pulled the car up to a halt a little ways after the hairpin. He dropped his head on to the steering wheel and breathed hard. "What the hell happened? How'd she do that? I thought she was a goner for sure!!" Julius said to himself. He sat up again and gripped the steering wheel, 'I guess I underestimated her. How'd she learn to race like that?' he wondered. Thoughts ran through his head as he turned the Evo 2 around and headed back up the mountain to where he had left the others.  
  
As he approached them, they looked up from where they had been talking in a group and waited for him get out of his car. Julius closed the door after climbing out and walked over to them. "What happened? What did she say when you stopped her?" Miki asked him.  
  
There was a silence as Julius stared at the ground and then he looked at Miki. "I didn't stop her," he said quietly.  
  
"Why not?! She might kill herself!" Miki exclaimed, running a hand through his blue hair.  
  
"I couldn't keep up with her." Everyone looked at him sharply and Miki asked, "What?!"  
  
"She was too fast. I caught up to her but...around the last hairpin, before the base of the mountain,..she whipped around that at high speed. I-I don't know how she did it," Julius blurted out, frustrated with all the questions, but no answers, in his head.  
  
"She what?! Julius, you're the fourth best driver here!" Kelly exclaimed.  
  
To Be Continued. 


	7. Author's Note

AN: Hey guys, it's me, HB-Rider. I'm not going to upload the next chapters until I get at least five more reviews from people okay? Come on now, let's here some reviews! 


	8. Another Author's Note

Hey everyone. I've been really busy these past few weeks. I've had meets on Saturdays and practices on weekdays for like 3 hours. And then you add in homework, my job, and chores at home and you know my schedules booked. But I've been working on the next few chapters so I'll try to get those out to you by 1/21. Most likely, I can get them out on the 20th. Until then, just be patient. Like Evelyn in The Mummy Returns said, "Patience is virtue." 


	9. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, and Back Again  
  
"I know! I didn't think she was that good. It's obvious what she said was true. She's been racing motorcycles since she was 12 or 13." Julius looked ashamed that he hadn't been able to keep up.  
  
"We must find out how she knows of our races and of the Revolutionary Driver," Touga said gravely, "If others know of this, it changes the whole thing."  
  
"What about HIM? Will her knowing of the races affect him?" Seiya asked and the others nodded, wanting to know the answer also.  
  
"The Revolutionary Driver? He will still come to us and he will participate in these races. He has a great chance of being the one to win the game," Touga said and looked at each of them. "Don't tell anyone about this, like I said before. Julius, you and I will talk to your sister tomorrow at the academy. I want to know why she has the necklace and how she knows about all this."  
  
Julius nodded. Miki listened as they made plans to talk to Utena. He looked out into the night sky, putting his hands in his pockets and leaning against his car. 'Utena, who are you really?' he asked into the gentle wind.  
  
The next day.  
  
"Julius, where's your sister?" Touga asked, coming up to Julius in the halls of the main building. All the students were outside or in classrooms eating lunch.  
  
"I don't know. I haven't seen her all morning. Let me go ask Mina and her group." Julius led the Student Council president out of the school building into the sunny courtyard where Utena's new friends were all sitting in a group, along with Seiya, Taiki, Yaten, and Miki.  
  
"Hey Julius. Come sit with us!" Mina shouted from her seat next to Yaten. She was trying to get Yaten to eat a piece of her bento lunch. Yaten, meanwhile, was trying to push the fork away from his face and was leaning back to try to get away from her, supposedly.  
  
"Oh no thanks. I just wanted to ask you guys something. Have any of you seen Utena today?" Julius asked them, careful not to look at Miki who was watching him.  
  
"Uh, no, I don't think any of us have," Ami said, after looking at the others who were all shaking their heads.  
  
"Oh ok. Thanks anyway. See you around." Julius waved to them and returned to Touga who was standing at the door to the school building. He said to Touga, "They haven't seen her. I don't think she went to her classes today."  
  
"I'll have Kelly check out her dorm since girls are only allowed in her dorm wing," Touga said and put his hands into his pockets. "Until then, just keep an eye out for her. I'll go talk to Kelly and then all send a letter to Utena's dorm just in case she was here this whole time without anyone knowing."  
  
"Okay," Julius nodded and headed back out to the courtyard.  
  
Touga went the opposite way, to the Student Council rooms. 'I have to find her. She might be the key to this whole puzzle.'  
  
Several days later.  
  
Miki was making his way down the hall, through the streams of students going to their classes when he spotted his best friend at his locker, retrieving his class books.  
  
"Hey Julius. Still no sign of her?" Miki said in a low voice when he reached Julius.  
  
Julius sighed and ran a shaking hand through his hair. "No, I haven't heard anything or even seen a note. She just disappeared. The only thing we know is that she is planning on returning to the school, she didn't withdraw her transcripts from the school office," Julius said in a tired voice. He looked worse than he had a few days before and was constantly acting impatient.  
  
"Julius, don't stress yourself. She'll be back soon. After all, she said she's taken care of herself for the past few years. What's a few more days?" Miki said calmly, trying to soothe Julius's anxiety.  
  
Julius ran a hand through his hair and sighed heavily. "It's not that easy to not worry about her. I worry about her every minute of the day, even when I'm sleeping. She's the only tie I have to my family after my dad died and my mom supposedly ditched. I just can't believe my mom would leave Utena to fend for herself." Julius cursed under his breath and said, "Maybe my mom wasn't the greatest after all."  
  
Two weeks later.11 o'clock at night  
  
A lone motorcyclist rode through the gates of Ohtori and pulled up behind the East Hall. The motorcycle made only a low rumbling noise so the rider wasn't afraid that anyone would hear her. She hid her motorcycle in a tiny clearing that was surrounded by tall bushes and was only big enough to fit her motorcycle. Placing the helmet under her arm, she silently made her way to the back door of the hall and slipped in, undetected.  
  
After a few moments, a light came on in a second floor bedroom window. The glass door that led to the balcony opened and the girl, now dressed in navy blue pajama pants and an identical top stepped out into the cool night once more. She went over to the railing and leaned on it as she seemed to be thinking. The teenage girl sighed once and then looked up at the starry sky. As she turned to go back into her room, the wind carried her soft- spoken word, "Why?" 


	10. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: She's Back  
  
Julius and Miki were walking to the courtyard for lunch break when students started running past them, heading towards the opposite direction.  
  
"What's going on?" Miki asked, wondering what was up in the gym, considering everyone was heading there.  
  
"I don't know," mumbled Julius.  
  
"Hey, Mina! What's going on?" Miki asked the blond girl as she, Ami, Serena, Makoto, and Rei hurried past them.  
  
"Everyone's saying a girl challenged the whole boys' basketball team to a game and she's kicking their butts!" Mina exclaimed excitedly and followed her friends to the gym.  
  
"Hey Jul, let's go check it out," Miki suggested.  
  
"No thanks. I'll pass," Julius said in a mumble as he shoved his hands in his pockets and kept walking to the courtyard  
  
Miki sighed and then frowned. "Julius man! Let's go! Now! I'm sick and tired of you acting all dopey! Just get over it! She'll show up soon!" He grabbed Julius's arm. Then he lowered his voice. "Man, I'm only doing this because I'm your friend. Seriously, moping around, worrying isn't going to do anything.  
  
Julius stared at Miki, surprised that his best friend would yell at him. Then he lowered his eyes. "Okay, I guess. Let's check out what's happening. And thanks Miki." Julius smiled. "That helped a lot."  
  
"All right. Now let's get going. The game could already be done by now!" Miki exclaimed and the two ran to the gym, being the only ones left in the hall.  
  
The two reached the gym and found the doorways packed with students. Miki yelled above the cheering. "Student Council officers coming through! Make room!" The crowd cleared a pathway and the two friends hurried to the front of the throng.  
  
"Okay, so what's the score?" Miki asked Ami who was standing next to them with Taiki, Mina, Yaten, Seiya, Serena, Rei, and Makoto.  
  
"Joey only told me that it was in the girl's favor," Ami said, looking at them.  
  
"Who's the girl that challenged the basketball-" Julius stopped short when he saw the girl.  
  
Miki looked at Julius to see what had caught his attention so much that he stopped talking and stared open-mouthed when he saw the attractive sister of Julius. "Utena?!"  
  
Utena was dressed in her uniform shorts and a white T-shirt. Her long hair was in a ponytail with a few strands, that had come loose out of the rubber band at the beginning of the game, framing her face. She was everywhere on the court as she went head to head against the boys' basketball team. It was apparent that the basketball team wasn't as good as her, even though there were five of them and one of her. The rest of the team shouted comments and helping remarks.  
  
Utena dribbled fast and she had fast hands and feet. She dribbled the basketball under her legs, switching hands, keeping the rhythm as she looked for an opening. Suddenly, as the ball was passed back to her right hand, Utena jumped up and shot the basketball off her fingers. Standing behind the three-point line, she frowned in concentration as the ball left her fingers. The whole team watched as the basketball flew up into a high arc and came down through the hoop. There was nothing but the swoosh of the net.  
  
The crowd cheered as Utena smirked and then applauded her opponents, who were all bummed that they had lost to a not just single person, but much more of a humiliation, a lone girl. She went over to the team who had gathered to the side and were standing with their hand son their hips, frowning, not having liked the outcome. The team captain was talking to them and some of them actually lost their frowns and were nodding their heads in agreement to the captain's words. Utena said, "You guys are really good. Thanks for the game," as she shook the team captain's hand.  
  
"Yeah, thanks. Maybe you should try out for the team sometime," the captain suggested with a grin.  
  
"I'll consider it, but I'm on the archery team and the martial arts team so I don't know if I'll have time," Utena said. "But I'll look into it."  
  
"My name's Kaneda Suou by the way. So you're Utena, Julius Tenjou's younger sister?"  
  
"Yeah, that's me. Are you a friend of his?"  
  
"Yeah. Well, good game. Later." The captain waved to her as he jogged after his team to the locker room.  
  
Utena smiled to herself and went over to the bleachers where she had left her jacket. As she pulled it on, the crowds of her friends came over to and were congratulating her on her victory over the basketball team.  
  
Utena grinned at what Makoto was saying, not noticing the two guys that were standing behind her. Utena turned around to head over to the courtyard but stopped short when she saw them. Her face turned into a frown and she walked over to them.  
  
"Utena, where have you been?! I was really worried about you!" Julius exclaimed in a low voice so that no one else could hear.  
  
"Julius, what I do is none of your busy. You're just my older brother. That's it. Not my guardian or mentor, or whatever else you think you are," Utena said firmly and then pulled the rubber band out of her hair and her hair down her back. She ran a hand through her hair.  
  
"What?" Julius asked, confused at what she was saying.  
  
"I don't want you interfering with my racing life okay? I have enough to deal with without your speeches about it being too dangerous." Utena said in the same low tone.  
  
"But Utena, it is dangerous. You shouldn't be doing that!" Julius argued. Miki just stood next to Julius and listened uncomfortably to their conversation, which was turning very quickly into an argument.  
  
"I don't care what you think. I'll do what I want whenever I want." Utena said, her tone turning icy. "And the person who gave me the Silver Star necklace told me I had the choice of joining in the races but frankly, I don't care what happens in the races. Good luck on making it to the top." Utena walked towards the courtyard. As she reached the door, a person entered the gym and Utena glared at him but kept walking towards her destination. The person stood in the doorway so Utena had to stop when she reached him.  
  
"Miss Utena, I'd like to speak to you," Touga Kiryuu said.  
  
"Can't. Gotta go eat lunch," Utena said simply. "Now move."  
  
Touga nodded his head and moved clear of the doorway. As Utena passed him he said, "Then, maybe we can get together sometime for lunch."  
  
Utena stopped. She whirled around and stalked back to him. "Let me get one thing straight with you," Utena growled. "I'm not interested in you and I never will be. Got it?" Without waiting for an answer, she stalked away.  
  
Touga watched her walk away and then shook his head with a smile and said to himself, "A beautiful angel with an attitude. Much more to my liking." 


	11. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Revelations  
  
Weeks went by and Utena never spoke to any of the Student Council members, not even her older brother or his best friend Miki. The Student Council usually saw a motorcyclist riding up on Mount Akina and acknowledged it as Utena and each time they, with the exception of Touga, Julius, and Miki, insisted that they should go and stop her to demand how she knew everything about the Student council, but Touga and Julius both denied them permission.  
  
Every other Friday night, they would see a motorcycle meet taking place at the summit of Mount Akina and they would watch as Utena raced opponent after opponent and came out the victorious one. Julius, Miki, and Touga could all see that these races were only practice sessions for her and that she was just about at the level of a professional level motorcyclist. Julius still felt the tinge of worry in him but he tried to shake it off, remembering what Utena had said about her being on her own, but he just couldn't stop worrying about his only sister.  
  
A few nights after that.  
  
At the top of Mount Akina, the Student Council was preparing for its monthly battle. Nausicaa had challenged Keisuke, the new winner of the races, the day before. They were just pulling their cars up to the line when bright headlights appeared around the first turn.  
  
Touga took a step towards the turn with wide eyes as he said, "It's the Revolutionary Driver!"  
  
The other Student Council members watched as the silver Mazda Enfini RX-7 FD3S whipped around the corner and sped towards them. The car slowed as it reached them and stopped a few feet before the starting line. The driver shut off the powerful engine and the headlights flicked off.  
  
The Student Council members held their breathes as the car door opened and the driver stepped out. It was too dark for them to see who it was, so Touga asked the person in a loud voice, "Are you the Revolutionary Driver?"  
  
The driver stood still for a few seconds and then stepped forward into the light of Keisuke's car's headlights. There were gasps, as the identity of this FD driver was known. Julius, Miki, Seiya, Taiki, Yaten, and Touga stared in shock at her as she just looked at them.  
  
"I am," she answered simply. Her voice was full of pride and confidence. That reply earned more surprised looks from the other members of the Student Council as they realized that the Revolutionary Driver was not in fact a guy, but a girl, and none other than Julius Tenjou's younger sister!  
  
"U-Utena! You're him! I mean, the Revolutionary Driver?!" Julius exclaimed.  
  
"That's right. And I think what you Student Council members are doing is wrong. Trying to win these races to receive the greatest power in the whole world.that's just not right. So I've made my decision. I've decided to join in these races and show you all, the true, and dangerous, power of the Silver Star races, as it was originally called," Utena said seriously.  
  
Touga took a step towards her. "How.?"  
  
"That's a good question Touga Kiryuu. I was chosen as the destined one when I was very little. I met a man during one of my motorcycle races and he said that I would be destined to race cars, but my passion was motorcycles, so I just ignored his statement. But then, my cousin Kaneda introduced me to a friend of his who drove cars on downhill runs and he persuaded me to try his car out. So I did, and I found that I was a natural. I could swerve, drift, and corner any way I wanted to. I decided that I would try out these races, at least, for a little while. The man showed up a little while after that and he told me to move here, to participate in these races and to change the world. And so here I am," Utena said.  
  
"W-Why didn't you tell me any of this before you came, Utena?" Julius asked.  
  
"I wasn't supposed to inform anybody about this, except the Student Council members. I wasn't aware that you were one of them at the time so I said nothing. And I arrived in Akina City about a year ago, I lived with a friend until the week before I told you I was coming to attend Ohtori Private Academy. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some things to finish before tomorrow morning. Oh, and Keisuke Takahashi, I challenge you to a race on the next full moon."  
  
"But Keisuke has to race Nausicaa. You will race the winner of that race."  
  
"Right, Touga, and I know who will win. You are not the only one who receives word from the R.K." Utena got back into the FD and turned her car around, leaving them all with surprised expressions still on their faces. The FD roared down the stretch and disappeared around the turn. The squealing of tires could be heard as the car drove away.  
  
"Touga, what is she talking about? What does she mean by R.K.? What is that?" Julius asked Touga.  
  
Touga stared down the road in the direction Utena had left for a few seconds before answering. "It is the Rose Kingdom. I haven't heard anyone mention it since before we started these races. I've been receiving instructions about these races. That's how I came to find out about the Revolutionary Driver.  
  
That night, Keisuke won the race, much to everyone's surprise, as Nausicaa was a slightly more experienced racer than him. Julius couldn't understand why Utena was the Revolutionary Driver and how he had no clue of it. Miki was equally distressed but in a different way.  
  
AN: Okay okay, I know it's short but the next chapter will make up for it. 


	12. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Dreams  
  
AN: Hey guys, this is a really long chapter compared to the other ones just to warn you. hehe I've been working on this one for a long time so I hope you enjoy it. Now here's the chapter.  
  
'Can it be that I felt I knew Utena because she was the Revolutionary Driver? Or was it something else? Like fate?' Miki thought as he lay in his bed at the academy that same night. Images of Utena in her racing gear and driving her car flashed through his mind. Miki clutched his head and then let out a heavy sigh. "What's going to happen? And why do I feel this connection with Utena Tenjou?" Miki wondered aloud in his darkened room. He thought about this as he drifted off to sleep.  
  
***  
  
"Wha-?!" Miki shot up in bed, looking wildly around the dark room, as if searching for someone. He sighed when he saw there was no one but him and he ran a hand through his hair. 'That was Utena,' Miki thought. 'Why was she wearing a crown and wearing that formal ball gown? And why was I dancing with her in a giant ballroom made of glass?! And if it was a good dream, why the hell was Touga Kiryuu in it?!'  
  
*Flashback into Miki's Dreams*  
  
The giant glass ballroom glistened with the glow of hundreds of strung up lights that hung from the ceiling as people danced and talked. The walls were made of smoky glass which appeared to be very thick. All the young women in the room wore formal ball gowns; many of them were very revealing. The young men wore tuxedos and wore masks that hid their identities, like the women. At the front of the ballroom was a stage-like platform, upon which four thrones sat empty.  
  
Miki seemed to be one of these people as he walked down the wide, red carpet that led from the entrance into the ballroom and to the platform. He wore a black tuxedo and a black bow from which hung an old, but fashionable, coin, but no mask. On his head sat a thin golden crown that was simply decorated with gems and stones of deep blue and pale blue. His body seemed to be moving of its own free will as he greeted people. Miki stared from within at all the people whom he talked to; whom he did not know, with or without the masks.  
  
Just as he reached the bottom of the long staircase, there was the sound of trumpets and all the people, including Miki, turned towards the top of the staircase and people cleared a path down the red carpet. At the top of the staircase, a man and woman appeared. They looked so young, yet wise and regal as they descended the stairs, palms touching slightly, parallel to the ground, which was the formal way. The man had dark brown hair and deep blue eyes. The young-looking man wore a white tuxedo and a large, gleaming golden crown, which had red rubies and white sapphires set into it, upon his head and held a long scepter. In his jacket pocket was a pale white rose that was at full blossom. His wife was a beautiful, slender woman with blue eyes and dark brown hair. She looked young enough to be Miki's 26-year- old cousin's age, but he doubted she was that young, considering the huge amount of intelligence and wisdom that seemed to be held in those eyes. The woman wore a silvery-white dress that hugged her figure and flowed at the bottom of the curved bodice. Her hair was pulled back into a loose French braid. The majestic woman wore a small golden crown on her head that was decorated with red rubies and white sapphires.  
  
They walked slowly down the red carpet, which led to the thrones and the man helped the woman to sit in the left-side center throne before sitting down in the right seat. They both looked expectantly up at the top of the staircase and Miki directed his attention towards there as well. Soft, procession music began to play and there were gasps of admiration as the most beautiful girl Miki had ever seen stepped onto the stairs with a young man escorting her. Miki felt his mouth go dry as he looked at the girl.  
  
She wore a beautiful silver-white dress that touched the floor. The dress was just perfect on her. The tight bodice complemented the girl's slender figure. It had a slightly low dip and thin white straps. The dress flowed from the V-shaped bottom of the bodice and it flowed around the stunning girl like water. Her dark brown hair and blond streaked hair was pulled back into a French bun with a few blond tendrils pulled down to frame her face. The girl wore a small golden crown on her head, smaller and much like her mother's crown, but it seemed to glow in the overhead hanging lights. The girl held the arm of the tall young man that led her down the stairs and Miki silently gasped when he saw who it was.  
  
The young man was Miki's age and was the same height as well. He had short, dark brown hair and blond streaks. He wore a small crown similar to his sister's and to his mother's crowns. He wore a white tuxedo, like his father, and a white rose sat in his jacket pocket.  
  
"Utena.Julius." Miki whispered, but no words left his mouth, in the dream. His body bowed down low in a respective manner as the siblings passed him and they greeted him with warm and recognizing smiles. Utena's gaze was a bit longer than Julius's, Miki decided, right before she turned back forward. As they walked to the thrones, Utena was handed a bouquet of pink roses by a young man who stood on the side; closer to the throne than Miki.  
  
Miki's eyes widened when he saw who it was. "Touga!" he gasped. Miki felt his dream body go tense with anger and.What was it? Jealousy? Frustration? Miki couldn't tell. All he knew was that, in this dream, he hated Touga with all his soul. He watched with a deep frown as Touga kissed Utena's hand and she thanked him warmly for the bouquet of roses. Touga held Utena's hand a few beats longer than was appropriate but Miki's dream body seemed to think Touga thought he was above all codes and formalities, whatever the reason.  
  
The two siblings finally made it to the platform and they took seats next to their parents; Utena, next to her mother, and Julius, next to his father. As the guests of the event, Miki figured that it must be a ball, considering all the formal attire and the settings, settled down, the man who sat on the throne next to his son and wife stood and waited for all attention to be on him before beginning to speak.  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you all for accepting the invitations to attend this ball. As most of you know, this ball is for my daughter, Utena, and has the main purpose of finding her a suitor. Many of you have been informed of this and many of you are eager to speak with my daughter and become acquainted with her so with just a few more words I will allow you all to dance and mingle.  
  
"There is another announcement that I must make. My son, Julius, has been chosen as the suitor of Governor and Mistress Kazei's only daughter, Nausicaa. Their marriage will be of the same day as Utena's when we find her a suitor. With those words, you are all welcome to drink and be merry!" The man held up a wine glass filled with wine, as his guests cheered, and waved his hand in the air. He took a seat once more on his throne as the small ballroom dancing orchestra began playing their soothing music.  
  
Miki's dream body slipped around women and men, muttering "Excuse me's" and "Pardon madam's" every occasionally. As he came within full view of the throne, the four people noticed him and their faces, especially Utena's, lit up. Miki's body bowed deeply and then smiled as he straightened up.  
  
"Ah! The Prince of the Deep Blue Ocean! Miki! We're glad you could make it," said the man with much joy in his voice.  
  
"Thank you, your Highness. It is an honor to be here," Miki 's dream body said. 'Prince?!' thought Miki. 'I'm a prince?! No way! This is one wigged out dream.'  
  
"Oh now Miki, no need for the formalism. It's just a ball after all," the man laughed at the young man who was his son's best friend, and was almost like a second son to him.  
  
"All right King Riley. Hey Julius. It's great to see you Queen Marina, and you Utena." Miki nodded to both women, his gaze staying on Utena for a bit longer. Miki thought, 'He's a king?! That means.Julius is a prince and Utena is a princess!'  
  
"Hey Miki, when did you get here? I thought your father was on a business trip?" Julius asked, shifting in his uncomfortable throne.  
  
"Father insisted that I attend instead of going with him on his trip. He said I deserved a break from all my studies and that I should have some fun," Miki said. His mind was wondering what was going on. "I just got here right before your entrance."  
  
"Oh, it's great that you could make it," Utena exclaimed, her eyes shining.  
  
Miki smiled warmly as he looked at her. "Yeah, it is. I'm glad I came." In Miki's dream mind, thoughts were running through his head at a mile a minute. 'Ask her! Ask her to dance with you!' were most of the thoughts. "Utena, would you like to dance with me? I think they're playing your favorite song."  
  
"Come on Utena! Don't pass up my golden opportunity! Even if it is my dreams I just want to know what it feels like to dance with you," Miki was trying to shout out to the Utena in his dreams and was saying "thank you thank you thank!" to his dream-self. But of course, they couldn't hear him.  
  
"Really? Oh yeah, they are. All right." Utena stood from her throne and Miki held out his hand to take her own. She slipped her gloved hand into his and he helped her off the platform and led her through the dancing guests to a good distance away from the throne.  
  
As they began to dance, Miki felt something run through his body from his hands, his legs, and his chest, all the parts of his body that Utena was touching or brushing up against with, most likely unconsciously, her own body.  
  
"So Utena, how do you feel about this whole suitor ball thing?" Miki asked, looking down into Utena's beautiful blue eyes that were unusually dull and had no sparkle to them.  
  
Utena sighed. "It's all right I guess. I just wish Father would let me do it my way. I mean, he's allowing me to choose my suitor, but I didn't want him to arrange a whole ball just for it. This," Utena waved her hand at all the guests and decorations, "is just a waste of time."  
  
"Aw, come one. Maybe there's someone here that might be a great suitor for you," Miki heard himself saying. Inside of his real mind, Miki had the urge to shout out, "Yeah, me!" and kiss the life out of Utena.  
  
"Umm, no, I don't think so," Utena said, looking out over the crowd. Then she turned her gaze back to Miki's eyes. "There's no one here that I know."  
  
"Oh, so you don't know me?" Miki joked with a brief grin. Then he turned serious. "No, really Utena, the main purpose of this is so that you can meet new people and get to know possible suitors. Even Julius thinks this is a good idea."  
  
"Yeah, only because he's already getting married to a great person," Utena replied sarcastically.  
  
"All right all right. I don't want to get into an argument. Let's just have fun, okay?" Miki grinned and swung her around on the dance floor.  
  
Utena smiled. "Okay, but you've got to do better than that. I know you can dance Miki. Right now we're just standing still." Miki's grin widened at the challenge.  
  
As if on cue, the beat of Utena's, and which happened to be Miki's, favorite song picked up and the two picked up their pace to move in time with the music. Their movements were fluid as they spun and moved their bodies to the rhythm.  
  
All eyes were on them as the guests cleared away for the couple as they danced. Many of them smiled and whispered to each other. Some of the comments were, "They can really dance!", "Wouldn't they match as a couple?", "They look like they could be soul mates right?", and "I think they should get together. Miki would make a great partner for Utena". Miki heard all of these but he kept his excited grin hidden. He was sure Utena couldn't hear them, her eyes were closed as her body swayed to the music in time with Miki's own. The beat picked up even more and Utena opened her eyes when Miki started to spin her and turn her.  
  
Miki grinned when Utena's face lit up at the familiar moves. They had practiced this dance so many times in the past that it was embedded into their minds and into their bodies. Their bodies moved without thinking and Miki was enjoying himself as he danced with Utena. He looked into Utena's eyes and saw that the familiar sparkle had returned to them.  
  
Before they knew it, the song was over and the crowd of spectators clapped and congratulated the two on their spectacular "performance." Miki and Utena shared a hidden grin as Miki escorted the rose haired princess back to her throne.  
  
Just as they reached the others, a certain orange-haired person, much to Miki's distaste, appeared next to Utena. "Princess Utena. You look as lovely as ever." Touga took hold of Utena's hand and kissed it lightly, holding it for more than it was necessary.  
  
"Thank you Prince Touga. And you look handsome as well," Utena said politely.  
  
Miki looked at Utena, but couldn't tell if she really thought what she had said. He frowned, 'Okay, so most of the girls in the Bright Orange Sun Kingdom think their is hot, but I have my many admirers too. Except the only major difference is, I don't look at or go to bed with any of them. I just look at this beautiful rose haired goddess in front of me, who happens to be talking to the biggest player prince to ever hit this decade.' Miki watched as Touga said something to make Utena and smile. Touga smirked at her reaction to his comment, probably thinking he was making progress in getting into the princess's bed. 'I take that back, I meant this century.'  
  
Touga's question jolted Miki out of his thoughts. "Princess, would you care to dance?"  
  
Miki looked frantically at Julius to see what his reaction to this player asking his younger sister to dance, but Utena's protective older brother was busy laughing and talking to his bride-to-be who had appeared at his side with a smile on her beautiful face.  
  
Miki looked back at Utena and as if in slow motion, watched her luscious lips open and her acceptance to his 'proposal' slip between her lips-  
  
"No, I'm sorry. I'm kind of tired from dancing already." Miki was startled. 'Did she just say.!?'  
  
"Oh, well. That's all right." From Touga's expression in Miki's point of view didn't look forgiving. "I will see you later in the evening then?"  
  
"Yes. Enjoy yourself Prince Touga." Utena said as Touga melted into the crowd, seemingly, to find another girl who would dance with him.  
  
*End of Dream*  
  
Miki ran a hand through his sweat-dampened hair as he recalled the dream. "It was only a dream Miki," he said aloud to himself. His voice echoed in his large dorm room (AN: way larger than Utena's, almost like a large chamber), "You have never danced with Utena and you never will, so get that thought out of your head!"  
  
'Was it really just a dream?' Miki wondered.  
  
***  
  
Utena shot up in her bed as she gasped for air. 'What the hell was that?!' She thought startled at the dream. 'Princess?! Dancing with PRINCE Miki?!' "What the hell is going on?" she wondered out loud.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AN: What'd I tell ya? It was really long. 


	13. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Getting There  
  
"All right, people. Settle down. The bell has rung," called out Ms. Takata, the English teacher. "Today, we'll start on a new section in the book. 'Fiction Writing'. First off, each of you will write a short story, a scene in a fiction story you have thought up. Be creative, there are no limitations to writing! Get to work."  
  
Utena flipped open her notebook. "Hmmm." She brought her pen to the paper, as she thought of what she would write about.  
  
"Hey Utena, got any ideas I can bum off of you?"  
  
Utena looked up. "Nah, sorry Tristan. I'm stuck in the idea department too. Why not ask Joey? He might have ideas."  
  
"All right." Tristan turned to the boy who sat in front of him. "Hey Joey, lemme see your paper!"  
  
"No way man, get your own ideas! Mine is gonna be the best in the class and I ain't letting no doofus like you steal my ideas."  
  
"What'd you call me?" Tristan, who was his best friend, answered. "You stinking, half-witted, doped-up..."  
  
As the two best friends half-joked, half-argued, as usual, Utena focused back on to her paper and thought about possible plots and scenarios to write about as her short story or scene. Suddenly, a flood of information about a possible plot broke into her mind and soon Utena was writing any words that came to mind on to her paper.  
  
A girl dressed in tight, black leather pants, a black shirt, and a black leather jacket walked down the deserted alley, minding her own business, taking no heed of the trash and junk that lined the buildings on either side of her. She had on a hat that was pulled on backwards and had on leather knuckle gloves, which were hidden by the fact that she kept her hands concealed in her pockets. Every so often, not even lifting her head, she glanced behind her and all around. The teenager exited the alley and followed the building wall down the empty street of the shady part of Tokyo. Her comfortable black sneakers softly padded on the cracked, and in badly need of repair, sidewalk.  
  
As the girl was crossing the street, the movement of shadows to her right caught her attention. The girl never broke her pace as she reached the other side of the street, as though she wished not to give anyone warning that she had noticed something out of the ordinary. She continued to walk down the sidewalk and when she sensed the shadows nearing, turned into a darkened alley.  
  
The man who had followed her in the shadows hurried into the alley after her, but he came to a stop at the mouth of the alley when he found that it was empty, and a dead-end. He looked around for a few seconds in confusion and was about to turn to leave when there was a clatter of what sounded like soda cans, at the back of the alley. The corners of his mouth came up into a sick smirk as he took a few silent steps into the alley.  
  
Suddenly, a small, but strong figure dropped down from the fire escape that hung above his head and kicked the air out of him. The man fell back a few feet and held his chest as he caught his breath. He looked up and saw the girl he had been trailing, standing in a wide stance in front of him with her gloved hands at her sides and her eyes calm, as though she fooled rapists and pickpockets into alleys and assaulted them, on a daily basis.  
  
"Well, well, what have I caught tonight? You must be Joe Kravin. Wilkins told me I would be meeting you shortly, after all, you're the only one working these four streets at 11 at night. I heard about what you did to that girl last week and I'm here for some payback. No one messes with teenage girls and gets away with it."  
  
The man growled as he struggled to stand. He held his sore gut as he stood before her with a sneer. "Who are you girlie? And how do you know Wilkins?" he sputtered.  
  
"Maybe you haven't heard of me, but that would be expected since all the guys who've met me are behind bars now. And your pal Wilkins is lucky to be one of them. You probably know me as the Huntress, a stalker of the night creeps, but I go by the White Rose Savior, but I'm not much of a savior to your people now am I?"  
  
"White Rose Savior?" the man laughed. "How'd you come up with an "angelic" name like that?"  
  
"Like this." The girl put up her right hand with her palm facing her and swept her left hand across the back of it. When she revealed her left hand, there was a white rose between two tips of her fingers. She slid her hands across each other again and then, in one fluid motion, threw the rose at the man. He gasped as the rose flew at him and closed his eyes tightly, hoping the impossible, that the rose would go off course. He stayed like that for a few seconds before he realized he didn't have a hole in his head. He opened his eyes and saw the rose spiraling stationary in the air right in front of him; the sharp, thorny, pointed stem almost touching his face. His eyes widened at the unbelievable occurrence.  
  
The girl, meanwhile, smirked as she held her hand towards the rose and slowly rotated her wrist. Then she gestured for the return and the rose fell backwards, away from the man, and landed softly in the savior's hand. "Satisfied?"  
  
The man turned and fled, every so often stumbling as he looked over his shoulder, hoping that the Huntress wasn't following him. He ran down the empty street and down a side street. He looked back as he ran across the street and saw that no one was following him, so he slowed with a sigh of relief. He turned the corner and let out a shriek, much like a woman's scream. The girl stood in front of him, as if she was always standing there, waiting for him.  
  
Suddenly Utena stopped. No more words entered her mind on its own. It was as if the river of words now had a dam plugging it up. Utena sighed at her sudden spurt of a great story and then the rapid loss of it. "Oh well, I might as well read it over and see if I can come up with anything else." Utena began to read but then with a barely audible gasp, her eyes caught on the words "White Rose Savior." She stared at it as if it were something not from this world.  
  
'Where did those words come from? I know I heard them before.Oh!' Utena's eyes widened. 'In my dream! That Prince Touga called me Princess of the White Rose! Could it be true that-No! It can't be true,' Utena argued with herself in her thoughts, 'I'm just being crazy. I must have thought it up because my mind remembered it from the dream.' Utena crumpled the paper up and tossed it over to Tristan who was still trying to think up an idea.  
  
"Yo Tristan, here's an idea," Utena said.  
  
Tristan opened the ball of paper and read it quickly. "Utena, this is a cool story. Except...'White Rose Savior'? Where'd you get that from?"  
  
"I have no clue," Utena mumbled under her breath and began to write a new story.  
  
By the end of the class, Utena had written about a team of street racers, who were racing other teams in their prefecture and others to claim the title of the 'Fastest Racer in Gunma Prefecture'. Utena had to admit, it was a pretty good story, partially true of course. "Much better than that stupid 'White Rose Savior' one," she muttered as she headed for the door, dropping the story on the stack of papers, which were her classmates' stories, on Ms. Takata's desk.  
  
***  
  
That night.  
  
"Hey Utena!" One of the dorm's girls called up from the bottom of the stairs.  
  
"Yeah?" Utena walked up to the edge of the landing. She wore a blue robe.  
  
"We're gonna watch some DVDs. You wanna join us? We got popcorn and candy," Lacy invited.  
  
"Uh, actually, I'm kind of wiped out. I was thinking of turning in early," Utena replied.  
  
"Oh okay, I'll tell the other girls so they won't bother you. Good night." Lacy called to her cheerfully and returned to the TV room.  
  
Utena hurried back to her room and tore off the robe. Underneath she wore black leather pants, a black front-lace-up tank top. She went over to the bed and sat down, retrieved a pair of black ankle boots from under the bed. She pulled them on quickly and laced them up. Grabbing her black leather jacket from where it hung on the back of the desk chair, she stepped out on to the balcony and shut the door behind her, careful not to lock it. She slipped on her jacket and climbed on to the cement railing. Near the balcony were thick vines that hung from a huge banyan tree. Utena jumped for the vines and grabbed a tight hold. She quickly slipped down the vines without getting her clothes covered with sap. A few feet from the ground, she let go and dropped down, landing in a crouch as the leaves crackled. Utena paused, listening for any sound that indicated someone had heard her "escape".  
  
Hearing no one, Utena quickly ran over to the clearing in the bushes that hid her motorcycle from view. She pulled her loose hair back and twisted it to the back of her head, slipping her motorcycle helmet over her head. She quickly wheeled her motorcycle out of the bushes, careful not to scratch the paint and wheeled it around to the front of the dorm building. Just as she was about to climb on, when there was a sudden shout, "Hey! Who are you?! What are you doing here?!"  
  
Spinning her head around, Utena saw it was Christina, the girl who had to room at the end of the hall. 'She must have been planning to go to the 24- hour snack bar to grab some more snacks for the girls,' Utena thought. She quickly threw her leg over the seat of her bike and started the ignition. She glanced back behind her and saw that the rest of the girls who resided in the dorm had gathered behind Christina to see what she was shouting about. Christina had the cordless phone in her hand and her fingers flew across the buttons, most likely dialing the academy's main office.  
  
Turning back around, she pushed the throttle and with a squeal of the back tire, Utena whipped down the sidewalk and around the corner. Once leaving the area of the dorm, Utena slid the bike on to the back tire and urged her motorcycle faster. The school buildings whipped by as she biked down the long driveway leading to the academy gates, her motorcycle making a deep purring sound. She turned swiftly at the corner and disappeared from view. The security guards hadn't even been contacted yet.  
  
A few moments later, Utena reached a house on the edge of the city. It was a pale blue, two-story house and had a large garage connected to the side of the house. Utena parked her bike in the driveway and knocked on the door of the door, removing her helmet as she waited for someone to answer the door.  
  
The door opened and a sleepy 20-year-old man wearing nothing but boxers greeted Utena; his six-pack rippled as he stretched with his arms in the air. "Man, Utena, I only got two hours of sleep," Chris yawned.  
  
"Sorry, I came to pick up my FD." Utena moved past him and headed down the hall to the door that led to the garage.  
  
As she went through the door, she flipped on the lights and saw that all the cars were accounted for. "Hmm, all the guys are home huh?" She said to Chris, a longtime friend of hers.  
  
"Yeah, they're all wiped out. We went out cruising and we didn't get back until about three hours ago," Chris said, slowly waking up from his sleepy mood. "So you have a race tonight?"  
  
"Yeah, it's nothing much, just some people getting together. Anyway, you guys have been working on the new car huh?" Utena glanced around the garage and saw that everything was clean as usual, unlike the rest of the house. This had been her home for about a year when she had first moved to Japan. She had stayed with Chris, Trowa, Marcus, Gino, and Shawn, having to deal with the five messy college guys who were like brothers to her.  
  
"Yeah, it's going pretty good." Marcus had recently bought a brand new Toyota Celica and was suping it up for weekly drag racing that was done on the streets of Akina. So far the guys had changed the rims, tires, spoiler, seats, headlights, brake lights, speakers, stereo, and the seat belt (changed to double shoulder straps for safety).  
  
Marcus walked over to the covered car and pulled off the car tarp. "Wow, it's looking great," Utena praised, amazed at what they had done with it in a short amount of time. She slowly walked around it, studying the Celica with a professional-drag-racing eye. "So, is Marc gonna let me test drive it?"  
  
Chris grinned. "Probably, he'd let you drive his prized Ferrari if you wanted to, and you know he doesn't let anyone drive it."  
  
"He still doesn't have a girlfriend? I thought he'd have one by now," Utena said with a smile.  
  
"Nah, he's just waiting for you to come around," Chris grinned.  
  
Utena covered the car back up and went over to her own car, the silver FD that the man had told her would be waiting for her in the Pyro Autoshop's parking lot that long time ago. She had driven it so many times that she could tell if there were a problem with it just by driving it a few yards. She had been sent the keys by express mail when she had arrived in Akina; she had no idea how the man had known where she had been staying, she hadn't told anyone.  
  
Utena uncovered the FD and folded the tarp up. She tossed it onto the worktable as Chris opened the garage by remote. The guys had installed a security garage door that only opened from the inside to insure their cars weren't stolen.  
  
She went out and got her bike, wheeling it in and parking it next to the Celica. Utena pulled out her keys for the FD and got in. She started the ignition and slowly drove past the other carefully covered cars and out into the driveway. She pulled up next to Chris and leaned out the window to talk to him.  
  
"I'll be back around three at the latest."  
  
"Yeah. Here, take these." Chris handed her the keys for the house.  
  
"Thanks." Utena slid the key chain and keys into the pocket of her jacket and slowly began to ease up on the brake pedal.  
  
"No prob. Just make sure you win." Chris grinned and went back into the garage, closing the door with the remote.  
  
Utena drove down the driveway and pulled out into the street. In a few moments she had reached the base of the mountain and, shifting gears, Utena sped up the mountain, taking her time.  
  
As she reached the top, she saw the same pack of cars from that other night and drove over to them. It was time to get serious.  
  
Meanwhile.  
  
Yaten kept glancing down the road as Touga talked to the council members. He thought, 'I can't believe Julius's little sister is the Revolutionary Driver. She seemed so free-spirited when we met her that first time. She was so glad to see Julius and she had already made a lot of friends.but when Julius said that we were on the Council, she kind of seemed.quiet. Maybe something's going to happen, something big,' Yaten thought grimly. 'Whatever it is, Utena didn't like the fact that Julius was on the Council.'  
  
Suddenly there was a flash of headlights from down the road and Yaten sighed. 'And it begins.' He called to the others, who were talking together a several feet away, "She's here!"  
  
The Council members all looked down the road and saw the bright light speeding down the stretch, towards them. Touga went over to his car and retrieved a small black book from the passenger seat. He slipped it into his pocket and stood waiting for the Revolutionary Driver.  
  
The FD slowed as it neared the Council. It pulled up next to Keisuke's FD and the door opened. Utena stepped out, clad in black leather. Her expression was dead serious.  
  
The air had changed somehow. It seemed more tense and vibrated with the tension. Everyone could feel it. Keisuke studied his opponent, the foretold racer who would have the skills to surpass even "The One", whom Touga had told them about.  
  
***  
  
This wasn't just another race for Utena. She knew she could win, but she was still tense. This was the beginning for the series of races that she had once dreaded, facing all these racers and taking the power of revolution. She dreaded what would happen in the end if she won.what would happen to the council members if she won.what would happen to her brother.and Miki.  
  
Utena took a deep breath and took the first steps toward her destiny.  
  
***  
  
In the shadows, two figures stood, watching the Council members and the arrival of the girl.  
  
"Is it her?" The shorter person asked in her elegant and soft voice.  
  
"Yeah, it's her all right," replied the taller person in his deep voice.  
  
"Then it has begun.the Revolutionary Races have finally begun, now that its creator is here," the woman said. Her voice was grave, with a hint or sorrow in them.  
  
"Yes." The man said. He looked at the girl. "Princess."  
  
"She's back." 


	14. Author's Note

Hey guys,  
  
I just wanted to clear some things up.First of all, when I was asking for reviews, I was not trying to be an ego-maniac!!!!! SOME people seem to think that! I just want reviews so that I can decided if I have to shapen up my writing or not. Second of all, I WILL upload the next chapter, but not right now...ooooooo!!! I am soooo mad!! I so sorry if I sound pissed off. This girl at my school is totally pissing me off!!!! It's not my fault I get good grades because I work hard and she doesn't! She told me to go to hell and anything else you can think of just because she got bad grades. I told her, "It's not my fault you don't do your homework. You're responsible for your own grades." And she said, "Well Miss High and Mighty, no one's a little perfect brat with a perfect life, no problems, like you! Some of us DO have family problems and relationship problems." yadda yadda yadda.!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAGGGGGGHHH!!!!!!! I wanna beat her to a pulp!!!! It's not my fault she's spending so much time with her boyfriend, doing God- knows-what and neglecting her school work!!!! AAAGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!  
  
Okay Nikki, calm down, no need to get so worked up...Okay, I'm feeling a little better. And as I was saying, this story will be continued, just not today, or tomorrow, maybe the day after.And reviews are appreciated. Please let me know what you think are the good/ strong points of my fanfic, and what the bad/weak points are. I'll try to fix them up. 


	15. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: The First Race  
  
AN: Another long chapter but not as long as the other one. And another thing, there might be a few things in here that's confusing to you, and I need to go over it again, but I know you guys have been wanting me to upload the next chapter so.I'll fix it up later okay? And comments and concerns are appreciated.  
  
"Well, I'm here. Let's get started," Utena said seriously.  
  
"Yeah. Let's get going. I want to get this over with," Keisuke said with confidence that did not reach his soul.  
  
"All right," Touga agreed and the two racers got into their cars. He nodded to Teiya who stepped up between the two cars. She waited until Keisuke turned on the ignition of his car before raising her hands. She looked at each of the drivers who both nodded to her. Teiya looked at Touga who stood behind the two cars and he nodded to her, a certain gleam in his eye as he put his hands in his pockets. With a swish of her hands, the two cars burst from the line and raced down the stretch, both equal in speed, being the same model of RX-7 with rotary 2 rotary engines.  
  
Teiya let up on the gas pedal ever so slightly, allowing Keisuke to get ahead of her. As soon as the yellow FD passed her, she sped up and pulled up close to the rear of the yellow FD.  
  
Ryosuke, who always watched his younger brother's races, followed them in his FC3S, followed by Touga, Miki, Julius, Seiya, Taiki, and Yaten. Touga drove his own car and Miki rode with Julius. The three brothers rode in Seiya's red Civic.  
  
Meanwhile, Utena was getting relaxed as she followed Keisuke, whom she was truly sorry to say, wasn't up to the same level of drift skill as herself. She followed him comfortably down the long stretch. As they neared the first turn, Utena decided just to stay back for the first half of the race and give Keisuke some time to get into his racing tempo. 'I think I can pass him in the hairpins. I'll just study his mistakes and disabilities before I make my move,' Utena decided. 'Let's see if he got better from his last race, after all, I wasn't watching it.'  
  
She watched carefully as Keisuke pulled his car into a perfect high-speed drift. She sped up and pulled into a clean drift right next to it, so close in fact, that Utena could reach out and touch the side of the yellow FD without reaching far. As she pulled out of the turn after Keisuke, she said to herself, "He's reaching his line perfectly. Let's see if he can stay focused under some pressure."  
  
Utena leaned down harder on the gas pedal and pulled out to the left side of the other FD, going for the inside of the turn. She didn't intend to pass him, so she didn't go at her FD's full speed. Just to see what he would do, she sped up the tiniest bit and watched as he sped up too. She half-watched the road as she kept an eye on her opponent's car, and as they slid into the next turn, Utena was even closer, next to the other FD. Halfway through the turn, Keisuke turned and looked her. He narrowed his eyes and turned abruptly back to the road. He powered through and Utena followed. After that turn, on the long straightaway, the yellow FD sped up leaving a gap between the two cars.  
  
Utena just kept at the same speed, never putting more pressure or relieving pressure off the gas pedal. She only shifted gears, her foot never straying to the brake pedal. She glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the pack of cars that were closely following the battle. "Narrowing her eyes, she eased more pressure onto the accelerator.  
  
Meanwhile, in the white FC3S, Ryosuke was studying the battle. "There's something really familiar about it." Ryosuke thought hard. He watched as the silver FD followed his brother's yellow FD into the next turn, following a little distance behind, always leaving the same length in the gap, never getting closer or farther. The silver car copied the yellow car's moves as they powered through the corner.  
  
"Oh!" Ryosuke finally got it. "She's copying my technique from when I raced against Yaten a few months ago! But why? Is she trying to tell us something?" Suddenly, at the marker that signaled the halfway point of the mountain, Ryosuke saw the silver FD speed up to an almost impossible speed for an ordinary FD. It pulled up alongside Keisuke's FD and as they went through the next turn, never slowing down. Any other racer would have thought they would hit, but not Ryosuke. He knew there was still at least 4 centimeters between those twin cars. Then, Ryosuke watched in amazement, as the silver FD sped up even more and pulled ahead of Keisuke.  
  
"There's gotta be something under that hood. Something that only she knows about!" Ryosuke exclaimed in the quietness of his own car. "I can't dissect that driver. She seems like she knows things, things about us.That's it! That's what that technique has been hinting at! She's been watching us race for whole time she's been in Japan! And she's hinting that she knows our strengths and weaknesses. She knows what we'll do and when we'll do it. She knows when I'll make a move in a battle, and when Keisuke will make his move too! That's why she waited until the middle of the downhill! She knows Keisuke liked powering through the inner corners and making the other driver nervous by pulling through even faster at the bottom of the hill. And I think she knows that Keisuke get extremely tense and angered when he's not out in front. Keisuke always tries to go fast on the corners, but he doesn't have as much skill as her. She knew what he was going to do and interfered with it!" Ryosuke's eyes widened. "That means she has a big shot at winning all of her races! She will win!"  
  
***Meanwhile.***  
  
'Damn!' Keisuke thought. 'I got passed!' He watched helpless as the silver FD pulled ahead of him and settled into the lead. 'But I'm gassing it! How can she get so much power from her FD? That's no regular FD! She must have juiced it up with a high-performance engine or something! Damn! I'm gonna lose! My technique's screwed! I can't catch up to her, so I can't ride on her bumper to cut some of the wind out. I'm gonna be even farther behind if I don't figure out something! And quick!' Keisuke clutched the steering wheel, his temper quickly rising. 'That bitch! She can't beat me that easily!'  
  
"Damn! Fine, I'll just try to catch up to her using the corners," Keisuke said to himself, trying to calm himself down. Beads of sweat were forming along his brow as he concentrated on pulling through the corners with a perfect line, hoping to gain a few feet on the silver FD before the next straightaway. "Maybe she'll start to relax once she's far enough ahead, like me, and not notice that I'm catching up to her."  
  
Utena glanced in the rearview mirror as she pulled through the next sharp turn. Suddenly, as she looked at the road again, she saw a headlight beam on the road coming around the next turn. 'It's a car! I hope Keisuke sees it.'  
  
Utena concentrated on her own driving and took her mind off the other FD as she steered her own fast moving FD to the left side of the road. She slid the car into a drift at the start of the right turn as the oncoming car came around the bend. Holding her breath, Utena settled the steering wheel and cleared the side of the passing car, just barely scraping through. Exiting the turn, she turned the steering wheel back and let out her breath. She was relieved that she had made it through. After all, she didn't have nerves of steel, even though she did tend to go a little too fast when racing her motorcycle or driving her cars (that's right people, plural. CAR-S. Not CAR. Moving on.).  
  
***  
  
"Whoa! She did a drift in the outside lane without crossing the center line! That's supposed to be an extremely hard maneuver!" Ryosuke exclaimed in amazement at what he had witnessed. "I only got that down a few weeks ago!" Ryosuke studied the silver FD as it disappeared around the next corner, "That girl is amazing. She has natural talent. I wonder what her role in all this is, besides the being the one who has the potential to win, the Revolutionary Driver."  
  
***  
  
"That girl is absolutely amazing," Touga stated in the quietness of his car. He smirked as he watched Utena's car disappear behind the guardrail along the next turn. "It won't be long before." He trailed off.  
  
***  
  
"Da-yum!" Miki stretched out his exclamation as he watched in disbelief as the car and its driver just barely missed getting smashed to pieces. "Julius! You're sister's insane! She could have hit that other car and found herself wrapped around a tree!"  
  
Julius sighed. "Yeah, I know, but for some reason, I feel like she knows what she's doing, even though I don't want to believe it. I felt like this that time I went after Utena when she was riding her motorcycle. I think she can handle it. And I think she really is the Revolutionary Driver."  
  
"You're okay with her racing?!" Miki asked, shocked that Utena's overprotective older brother would allow her to partake in such a dangerous sport. "If Utena were my sister, I'd never let her!"  
  
"It wouldn't matter if I gave her permission or not, she'd do it anyway, whether or not I let her. After all, since she is the Revolutionary Driver, my word wouldn't stop her, it's her destiny to race, even though I know how dumb it sounds," Julius said.  
  
Miki frowned. "But still, I thought you cared about Utena! How can you just let her do that so easily?!"  
  
"Miki, just relax, your feelings are starting to show," Julius almost laughed at the almost-hysterical Miki, whom, Julius had figured out, cared a lot more about his younger sister, even more than he had said before.  
  
Miki shut his mouth. He looked ahead and saw that only Touga and the back of Ryosuke's FC was in sight as it rounded the turn. The two racing cars had disappeared from view. He watched the road for a few silent minutes before turning back to his best friend and blurting out, "Okay, so I love her! Is that such a crime?!" he almost shouted, his voice filled with emotion.  
  
"Whoa, Miki. Calm down. I wasn't saying you couldn't." Julius was surprised at how much strong emotion her heard in Miki's voice. "But I have to ask you, how can you love her that strongly when you've only talked to her for a few times?"  
  
"That's the thing I don't get," Miki lowered his voice. "It's like we made a connection the first time we met, or something like that. She isn't like my former girl-friend. She actually listened to what I had to say and.I don't know, she.expressed her own feelings about some issues. I guess she's my type of girl, but that's not just it," Miki let out a haggard breath and ran a hand through his hair. "It's like she's a part of me and I feel like I can't live without her."  
  
"I had this dream the other night that we were dancing in this castle, or something, and I-I.I can't explain how I felt. I-" Miki let out a big sigh. He rubbed his tired eyes. "I'll tell you about it later. I just need some time to think this over."  
  
Julius nodded. As he sped up to catch up with Touga, he began thinking about Miki and Utena. He smiled secretly after some time. 'They do seem to get along fine, and they seem to have a connection that even I don't have with my own sister.' He glanced over at Miki, who was staring out the window, deep in thought, before returning his eyes to the road before him and pressing down harder on the gas. 'Well just have to see what happens. But Miki is wrong about one thing, I'm scared for Utena. I don't want to lose her.'  
  
Julius said to Miki, to fill the silence, "With Keisuke being the second to the last best racer on the council, Utena will be making her way to the top soon. And that means we'll both have to race her soon."  
  
Hearing no reply, he glanced quickly over to his passenger and saw that Miki had not budged. Julius sighed, 'Miki better make the move soon or he's going to be feeling even worse. And I hope Utena encourages him, which I think she probably will. I think she feels the same about him, although I'm not quite sure."  
  
***  
  
Utena pulled around the next corner and wiped the sweat off her face as she accelerated. She glanced in the rearview mirror for the other FD, but Keisuke was far behind, and all because of her crazy, on-lane drift. Utena breathed in deeply and she felt comfortable and relaxed once more. She applied more pressure on to the gas pedal and the FD whipped past the ½-way marker. 'He should be losing his cool in a few minutes.'  
  
"Damnit!" Keisuke yelled in the yellow FD. He had just rounded another corner, but the silver FD was still out of sight. "Either she's pulling away from me or she's keeping at about the same speed as me," Keisuke muttered. His knuckles were turning white from his tight grip on the sweaty steering wheel. He glanced at the speedometer and cursed. "I need more power! I should have installed a new engine before this race!"  
  
Keisuke shot through a corner, barely pulling through and just inches from the guardrail. As he turned the corner, his eyes saw an amazing sight. The end of his silver opponent was just sliding out of sight in the next corner! "Yes! I made it! But.how'd I get so close, so quickly."  
  
'She can't have driven slower just to give me a handicap. Could it be? I've gotten faster on the corners?!' Keisuke couldn't believe it. "Wait a minute, what happened on those other corners? I don't remember what I did.Maybe I was driving.what was it that Ryosuke called it? Consciousness Drifting? Something like that. I must have been doing that. My mind was on other things while my body was executing the moves!'  
  
***  
  
Speeding towards the next turn, Utena looked in the rearview and saw the yellow FD just exiting the turn and barreling down the short straightaway after her. He was quickly closing the distance as Utena steeped down harder, jumping her car forward even faster. "Impressive Takahashi, I underestimated you. Look's like you won't be eliminated from the races that easily. Let's battle now." Utena smiled.  
  
Utena understood that Keisuke had learned a lot during this battle, lessons which would improve his racing career if he finally decided to go in to it. She was glad that Keisuke had finally managed to use his temper to his advantage, although unknowingly. He had "channeled" his anger into his skills and had let his consciousness drive as he thought, probably, the worst of her. Utena gave a soft laugh. She flashed her hazard lights twice and sped up. 


	16. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: The Book  
  
"What?" Keisuke said. "That looked like a.a challenge! It was a challenge! She wants to battle drift for drift! Is she trying to give me a chance?" Keisuke watched the silver FD inch forward just a little and then fall back into the same speed as he. He grinned. "No, she just wants to see how I do on the corners. Well Revolutionary Driver, show me your moves and I'll show you mine." He loosened his grip on the steering wheel just a little and narrowed his eyes.  
  
Utena grinned as the other FD came up closer to her own FD, almost so that it was riding on her bumper. "He understands."  
  
The race was as good as forgotten as the two FDs began their exhibitions, as it had turned into. The two drivers knew that Utena would win the race no matter what so they both decided to turn this into a lesson for each other  
  
***  
  
"What are they doing?" Ryosuke asked himself. The aura around the two had changed. They seemed less.,"challenged," Ryosuke finished his thought aloud in disbelief. He never would have thought Keisuke would give up a race that easily. "No wait, he hasn't given up, it's just he wants to prove to her that he might have the potential to beat her one day," Ryosuke figured as he studied his younger brother's drift through the tight corner. "Man, Utena Tenjou is one hell of a teacher. She's taught Keisuke a lot since the beginning of the race."  
  
Ryosuke gave a short laugh before speeding up to follow the two drivers in front of him.  
  
***  
  
The Student Council members and Utena were gathered at the base of the mountain some time later. Utena had, not surprisingly, won the race. As soon as the two racers had departed their cars, Keisuke had headed over to Utena and had shaken her hand, thanking her for what she had taught him. The rest of the council were surprised to see Keisuke smiling after losing a race, when normally he would be ill-tempered and would drive away angrily to "cool off", which was throwing rocks into the nearby lake, punching something, and one time at a café, someone.  
  
"Wow, shit, you drive like a maniac!" Keisuke exclaimed.  
  
"Thanks, I think," Utena replied uncertainly and laughed with the rest of the teenagers.  
  
"Well, we should be getting back to the academy," Seiya said. And the others agreed.  
  
"Utena, I'll follow you there," Miki said, as if staking his claim with Utena, and shot a glance at Touga. The older man's expression hadn't changed.  
  
"Actually, I have to drop off my car at a friend's house. I rode my motorcycle," Utena said, heading for her car.  
  
"Oh, all right. I'll see you tomorrow then," Miki smiled to Utena who had turned back at her car door and smiled back.  
  
As the others got into their cars, Touga walked over to Utena, "Miss Tenjou, may I have a word?"  
  
"Oh sure," Utena replied, she closed her car door again. Putting her hands into the pocket of her pants, she faced Touga as everyone else left. "What about?"  
  
"If you are in contact with the R.K., you should recognize this." Touga held up the black book. Utena's eyes widened and she gasped.  
  
"That's-that's the Rule Book!" Utena exclaimed. And then her eyes narrowed, "How come you have it?" she demanded suspiciously.  
  
"It was sent to me, by the R.K. They sent it to me about two year ago. That's when they first told me about the Revolutionary Driver.you." Touga stepped closer to Utena and lowered his voice. "And do you know what they wrote on the inside cover?" Touga opened the book and held it out to Utena. She took it, and glancing at Touga with almost distrust, she lowered her eyes to the inside book cover.  
  
To the Student Council President of Ohtori Private Academy Kiryuu, Touga,  
  
For the past couple of years, you have conducted the Races with almost no idea as to what this will lead up to in the future. Having no clue, you still followed through with our requests and so we reward you with this piece of information and the rest of the rules of the Races that we have not yet sent to you.  
  
Your information is this: in two years coming, a racer will appear in your midst. This racer is the key to the future of these Races. This racer is the sole purpose of the Races. This racer will participate in the races and will begin winning the races. You have been provided with this information knowing that none of this can be revealed to the lower class members, with exception to the mention of this racer. This racer called the Revolutionary Driver, also known as the Revolutionary Racer. This racer will race each of the members of the council until the time of the most important race of all comes. This racer with battle against the one person is to be the legendary race. It will decide to sole person who is to be in control of the R.K. and the power. Use this knowledge well Kiryuu, Touga. But know this, you cannot stand in the way of this racer. This racer will succeed.  
  
- Rose Kingdom  
  
Utena raised her head from the book and looked at Touga, an elegantly shaped eyebrow raised. "Is this supposed to amuse me?"  
  
Touga smirked. "Not really. Just to give you some knowledge about the upcoming races."  
  
Utena closed the book and held it out to Touga. "Like I need to know anything," she said, sarcasm clear in her voice.  
  
Touga didn't take it back. "Why don't you hang on to it? Read what is says in the book. The R.K. added some things on some of the rules that I'm sure you'll find useful."  
  
Utena quickly flipped the pages and saw the same typed font under some of the rules. She shut the book. "Fine." She pulled open her car door and got in. Before closing the car door, she looked at Touga again. She told him, "The R.K. is right, you can't stand in my way. No one can," before shutting the door and turning on the engine. Touga knew she didn't just mean the races. She was also talking about his intentions.  
  
As Utena's FD disappeared down the stretch of road, Touga stood with his hands in his pockets. "Don't be so sure about that Utena Tenjou. I will have you, one way or another." Touga smirked. He got into his car and went the opposite way of Utena, towards the academy.  
  
In the shadows, the two figures still stood, watching the light of the car's headlights disappear in the darkness. Their faces were hidden in the shadows as they looked out over Akina City.  
  
"Touga Kiryuu means trouble for the Princess," the woman commented to her companion.  
  
"Yes, we should keep an eye on him," the man replied, almost in anger. "But our Princess did well tonight. The Races will only become more difficult as the weeks pass. Soon she will be up against her greatest challenger and that is the battle which will be the most crucial."  
  
"Right," agreed the short woman. "That is the most important race."  
  
***  
  
A couple of hours later.  
  
Utena dropped down on to her bed. Sitting cross-legged in her pajamas, she studied the cover of the book in her hands. On the cover was the words "The Revolutionary Races Book" and it had the emblem of the R.K., the Rose Kingdom.  
  
Utena studied it with severe intensity, trying to memorize all the dents and markings in the cover. As her eyes ran over the book, her mind turned back to the dream that she had had. "White Rose." she whispered to herself. Just then, her gaze drifted the emblem in the middle of the book. She gasped. The symbol was a rose that was in full bloom. "What's going on?" Utena wondered aloud to herself.  
  
Turning her thoughts back to the book, she opened the book to the first page. There, stated in bold black letters was:  
  
Utena Tenjou,  
  
We have told Kiryuu, Touga to make sure that this book was placed in your possession. This is for your eyes only and we have ensured that only you have laid eyes on these words.  
  
We have been waiting for you. Our contact reported to us that you had come to Japan and had received your car. We hope it is to your liking. Your involvement in the Revolutionary Races is crucial, to you and to the world. We know of the doubts that you hold within yourself and we tell you this: Do not think you can win, believe that you can win. You must call upon the powers hidden within your soul. Let your soul guide you. Your soul knows what to do, let it loose and it will lead you to your destiny.  
  
And also, know this: Kaoru, Miki is on your side. He secretly despises Kiryuu, Touga. Unknown to him, he will play a vital part in the races, and, if all goes as planned as your destiny, in the future after the Races as well. The dream that you have had is a very real event in your life. It occurred in the far past and is a part of who you really are.  
  
Do not disclose any of this information to anyone, especially the persons mentioned. You will be receiving an envelope each week pertaining to the information you have read and the Races.  
  
Follow your heart.  
  
RK.  
  
"'...Is part of who you really are...' Utena pondered. 'If I'm not Utena Tenjou, tomboyish schoolgirl and motorcycle and car racing fanatic, who am I? That princess I say in my dreams?'"  
  
"No way, that's way too impossible for me," Utena decided with s shake of her head. Her eyes moved down to the last line. "'Follow your heart.'" Utena repeated. She closed the book and looked towards the window. In the darkened glass, she saw a handsome face smiling back at her. "'Follow my heart,'" Utena repeated again, this time with a smile growing upon her own face. 


	17. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Emotions Running High  
  
"Miki!" Utena shouted, hurrying after her brother's friend. Other students gave her strange looks as she ran across the courtyard, but she just ignored them; her eyes saw only one person.  
  
The blue haired guy turned around. He smiled when he saw that it was Utena. As she neared him, Utena suddenly noticed that her heart had started to beat faster and louder. Swallowing hard, Utena gave Miki a bright smile.  
  
"Hey Utena. What's up? Julius's in the Council lounge if you're looking for him," Miki greeted.  
  
"Oh, I'm not looking for him. Actually, I was looking for you," Utena said.  
  
"Really?" Miki seemed surprised.  
  
"Yeah, I'm having some trouble in my algebra class and I heard that you're the genius at Ohtori, so I was wondering if you could help me get a higher grade, maybe help me study for upcoming tests and stuff. Like tutoring."  
  
"Sure, I'll be glad to." Miki grinned. "Algebra is pretty easy."  
  
"Ha! Easy for you to say. You're the one who's already in line for prestigious scholarships all over Japan," Utena teased.  
  
"How d'you know about that?" Miki as really surprised. Utena guessed that he hadn't told that many people about it.  
  
Utena shrugged with a small smile. "Word travels fast around this campus."  
  
"Yeah, I guess it does, especially with all these people gossiping," Miki grinned, lowering his voice and leaning closer to Utena, "not to mention names, but there's this one Kou person with silver hair who always seems to be spreading some kinds of information to other people."  
  
"Yaten is always doing that huh?" Utena agreed. "I'll have to make sure he doesn't find out anything about me." Utena grinned. "After all, I wouldn't want my bad rep with the cops to be spread around the school," she joked.  
  
"Yeah, we wouldn't want that now would we?" Miki joked back. The two laughed. After a few minutes of some more joking around, Miki's expression turned questioning.  
  
"So have you ever been caught by the police before?" he asked, glancing at Utena.  
  
"Once, I wasn't being careful when I was out street motorcycle racing one time. I had just finished a race and then one of my friends, Mark, yelled to everyone that the cops were coming. I didn't even have time to start up my bike before dozens of police squad cars surrounded everyone who hadn't already gotten away."  
  
"Really? Wow. So you have a police record now?"  
  
Utena gave a short laugh. "Uh, actually, no. A friend of mine, Chris made my record.disappear."  
  
"What?! He hacked into the system and-" Miki almost shouted.  
  
Utena shot a hand over Miki's mouth. "Shhh, quiet. If anyone finds out about it, Chris will be so mad. He's got so many things going for him right now, he can't afford to get caught." Utena removed her hand.  
  
"All right, but hacking?!" Miki exclaimed quietly, his head bent towards Utena's own. His lips felt hot where Utena's hand had come in contact.  
  
"No biggie. He didn't change anything else," Utena replied nonchalantly.  
  
"Uhuh," Miki said, clearly no believing her.  
  
Utena cracked a smile. "I'm serious!" She protested.  
  
"Sure," Miki stretched out the word, adding sarcasm to it. Of course, he was just joking.  
  
"Whatever." Utena waved her hand in the air. And then grinned.  
  
Miki smiled, but it diminished in a few moments, replaced by a troubled expression. Utena noticed this.  
  
"Miki, what's up?" Utena asked, concern written in her voice.  
  
"Nothing," Miki answered quickly. He took slightly quicker steps.  
  
"Come on Miki. You can tell me." Utena sped up and moved directly in front of him, making him come to a sudden halt from his rapid steps.  
  
Miki looked at her and then at the shadows on the ground. "Well.I have this, uh, friend who, uh, wants to ask this girl out but, he doesn't know if she'll want to go out with him so-"  
  
"Yes," Utena said.  
  
"What?" Miki asked, confused.  
  
"Yes. I will go out with you," Utena grinned. "And you're a really bad liar you know."  
  
Miki rubbed the back of his head, "You knew it was me?" he asked her embarrassed.  
  
Utena laughed. "Yeah." The two began walking again.  
  
Miki couldn't stop smiling. Even though he had been found out, it had lead to Utena's agreement to his date offer.  
  
"So, where are we going?"  
  
"Huh?" Miki was pulled out of his thoughts of Utena.  
  
"Where are we going on our date?" Utena smiled, amused at Miki who seemed to have had drifted off in to la-la land.  
  
"Uh, well, I haven't really thought about that yet, so." Miki turned pink.  
  
Utena laughed. "That's okay. Uh, they have that new American movie playing. 'The Matrix: Reloaded'. Do you want to go see it?"  
  
"Yeah, I've been wanting to go see that one." Miki agreed.  
  
"Great. And when is our date?" she asked him.  
  
"Are you free next Friday night?" Miki had begun to relax and talk like a normal person, much to his relief.  
  
"Yeah, sure." Utena smiled. She looked down and her hair hung over her expression of happiness, hiding it from Miki's view. "So, uh," Utena said raising her head, her expression minimized to a happy smile. She brushed her hair out of her face.  
  
As Utena's hand moved aside her shining hair, the picture became slow motion for Miki. He watched, amazed, as Utena's beautiful hand pushed her dark brown hair out of her face, her eyes blinking. The deep blue orbs looking up into his, innocence burning in them, with a hint of shyness and adventurism, it made him feel something. He felt warm inside, as if he could take on the world if only he could just touch her lips once with his own.  
  
Utena looked up into his deep blue eyes. 'Oh my god. I think I'm gonna die of suffocation. I can't breathe.' Her breath had caught silently in her throat when she had looked up to see Miki staring into her eyes. Her eyes tore themselves away from his eyes, only to be taken, captive yet again-by his lips. His pale pinkish-red lips slightly apart, his heavy breath sliding through. Utena raised her eyes back to his eyes and realized that he was slowly leaning towards her. She lifted her lips to meet his, closing her eyes like Miki.  
  
As their lips touched, they each felt a huge shock of shivers running through their bodies. Miki's arms encircled around Utena's small waist, drawing her closer as they both deepened the kiss. Unknowingly, Utena moved her hand to the back of Miki's hair, running it through his thick blue hair. Miki's arms were tightly around Utena's waist and was running his fingers up and down her back, sending even more shivers down her spine.  
  
Suddenly there was a loud whistle of approval from behind Utena. Miki and Utena gently pulled apart from each other at the same time, as if their minds were one. Miki's arm was still around Utena as they saw Julius, Yaten, Seiya, Taiki, Ami, Mina, Rei, Makoto, and Serena standing there They were all smiling. Yaten, whom had whistled, was grinning mischievously.  
  
"So...is it hot out here or is it just me?" Yaten asked innocently. The others sputtered at his lame joke.  
  
Utena laughed and shook her head. Miki was looked at Yaten with a raised eyebrow.  
  
The group walked over to Miki and Utena.  
  
"Man, you guys look good together," Makoto said, in her tomboyish way.  
  
"What can we say? We were meant for each other," Utena said, looking up into Miki's eyes, knowing that they were in agreement on that.  
  
"All I'm gonna say is: It's about time you guys got together," Julius told them, moving between them and slinging an arm over both of their shoulders. "You guys were tearing yourselves apart over the last few weeks. Especially you, Miki."  
  
Leaning over, Julius said quietly to Miki. "You moved fast, buddy."  
  
Miki smirked. "And I know what your next words are going to be, Utena's oh- so-overprotective-older-brother."  
  
"Good, so we're clear on that, dude?" Julius grinned.  
  
"Of course."  
  
"What are you to talking about?" the two looked over at Utena who was looking at them suspiciously.  
  
"Nothing important. Just planning your engagement," Julius joked.  
  
"-and your wedding-" added Mina.  
  
"-and your honeymoon-" chirped Serena.  
  
"-and your three kids' names!" exclaimed Yaten.  
  
"You guys! Seriously, get a life!" Utena shouted with a frown, but her eyes were shining with laughter. She slipped out from under Julius's arm and moved around him, to Miki, whom promptly slid his own arm around her waist.  
  
Julius let go of Miki's neck. "Whatever," he replied with a smirk. He looked over at the other two as they walked with their friends to the courtyard. They were talking quietly with each other, smiling every so often. Miki's face was a soft pink and Utena's was the same.  
  
'Well I guess we're gonna have an addition to the family.some guy named Miki Kaoru. Hmmm.I wonder who that could be.' Julius thought to himself a smile on his face. He shook his head, looking down at the ground with his hands in his pockets as he walked beside his group of close friends. 


	18. Chapter 14

A.N. :Hey you all, thanks for your reviews! I really appreciate them! ^_^  
  
So here's the next chapter.Man, it's already at the 14th Chapter!! I can't believe it.  
  
This chapter is mainly about.well, you'll have to see. More characters from another anime!  
  
Disclaimer - I do not own any of the Revolutionary Girl Utena characters, the Sailor Moon characters, and also the Initial D characters. I modified a character of Sailor Moon, and to not let anything else slip, I won't say whom, but you guys still own this person! ^_^  
  
Chapter 14: Two New Students & Pre-Date Prep  
  
Two days later.  
  
Miki and Utena were walking to the courtyard yet again to meet their friends under the usual tree. Miki had his arm around Utena and they were talking and laughing. They had grown really comfortable with each other and they didn't get embarrassed about what they said to each other anymore.  
  
***  
  
"There they are," the guy said to his aqua haired companion.  
  
"Yeah. Let's go," the girl replied. The two started to stroll in the opposite direction of which Miki and Utena were headed.  
  
***  
  
".and Yaten was complaining again about Seiya causing all the prob-Oof!" Miki was knocked to the grass, almost taking Utena with him.  
  
"Miki! Are you all right? What happened?" Utena asked him, helping Miki up.  
  
"Sorry about that." Miki and Utena both looked up at the sound of the deep male voice. They saw the handsome sandy haired guy whom had bumped into Miki. He had crystal blue eyes that seemed to slightly change shades as he blinked.  
  
"Oh no, it's okay. Really." Miki replied, rushing the grass and dirt from his pants and looking at the guy, not liking how his eyes seemed to notice everything.  
  
"Well, I guess I should introduction myself and my girlfriend," he gestured to the aqua haired girl who had been silent. "I'm Haruka Tenou and this is Michiru Kaioh."  
  
"Nice to meet you. I'm Miki Kaoru and this is Utena Tenjou." The four of them shook hands.  
  
"Are you two new students here?" Utena asked them curiously.  
  
"Yeah, we were both students at Crystal Viewpoint Private Academy but they're closing it down so we transferred here," Michiru Kaioh said, her voice soft, elegant, and friendly.  
  
"Really? Isn't that the hi-tech preparatory academy?" Miki asked interested. "I know they have really difficult entrance exams. You two must be geniuses to have gotten in."  
  
"No, not really. Michiru's more the smarter one than me. I'd rather be behind the wheel of a car instead of in class."  
  
"Oh! I thought I recognized you! You're the only female racecar driver in F1 racing!" Utena exclaimed, her eyes wide.  
  
Haruka laughed. "I was wondering when you'd figure it out. I know you of course. Utena Tenjou, female motorcycle racing extraordinaire."  
  
"Uh, not anymore," Utena replied. "I quit two years ago."  
  
"Yeah I know. Why did you?" Haruka asked, curiousness shown on her face.  
  
"Well," Utena looked at Miki. He knew why she had quit.The Races."I was involved in to many things at the time. I was just too busy."  
  
"Oh. That's too bad. You have a lot of potential to become a world class motorcyclist, to beat all those top men, and become the first female to beat all the top class men. And I think you'd even be great in car racing. Maybe you should try it sometime." Haruka suggested.  
  
Miki and Utena looked at each other and they both grinned. "Yeah I've tried it before. I've only raced once though."  
  
"Really? What type of race was it?" Haruka asked, sounding pleased.  
  
"Downhill drift," was Utena's simple answer.  
  
"Wow, and did you win?" Haruka questioned.  
  
"Yeah, I did."  
  
***  
  
It was the afternoon of the date. The Date. The date that Utena had been waiting all two weeks for. She stood in front of the mirror with Mina, Serena, and Rei bustling around her, dragging outfits into the room. Ami and Lacey and Christina were also there, but they were just there to watch.  
  
Utena looked at the stakes of clothes piled on the chair, on the floor, and half on the bed. "You guys, I can't wear ALL of this at once you know."  
  
"Utena, you have to have the PERFECT outfit for your date with Miki! This is your guys' first date!" 24 hours-7days-a-week shopper Mina protested. Most of the clothes were hers. The blond fashion expert had taken it personally when Utena had announced her date with Miki. She had decided that she would be Utena's fashion consultant for her date.  
  
"Yeah yeah, I know, but is this really necessary?" Utena complained.  
  
"Of-course-it-is!-Are-you-kidding-me?!-You-can't-find-the-perfect-outfit- ifyou-don't-tryon-different-outfits!-And-now-try-this-one," Mina said in a blur, thrusting an outfit into Utena's arms.  
  
Utena sighed, "All right." She turned around and trudged to the bathroom.  
  
*Half an hour later*  
  
"Oh my god! That is the perfect outfit!" exclaimed Mina. She was jumping up and down in her excitement. Everyone else just sighed at Mina's reaction. But they had to agree, she did look good.  
  
Utena was wearing slightly loose-fabric chocolate brown pants, black leather platform heel boots, a black slightly-tight shirt with cross-lacing in the front from the top of the slightly low neck line to the bottom of the shirt. Rei had done her make-up, even though Utena had argued that she could put on her own make-up, as always. The girls, all of them, had argued back that this was a special occasion ad she couldn't go out on her first date with Miki with her usual tiny make-up. Now she looked even more stunning than her usual appearance. And add to that her usual hairstyle of a ponytail with a few strands of her bangs pulled down to frame her face (the girls had agreed that this was her most flattering hairstyle), and her appearance was sensational.  
  
Utena walked over to the mirror and stood before it. She turned back to her friends with a playful smirk on her face. "Da-yum! I look good!" They all laughed.  
  
Just then the phone rang. Utena answered it, "Hey, Utena's room."  
  
"Hey Utena. Your date's here," replied the amused voice on the phone. "And girl, I never knew Miki Kaoru could look this hot!"  
  
Utena laughed. "All right Dee. I'll be right down, and don't touch him. He's mine." She hung up the phone. She told the girls, "Dezeray says Miki's lookin' hot." She grinned knowing what their reaction would be.  
  
The girls all starting shrieking. They rushed for the door and Utena followed, grabbing her designer trench coat off her chair.  
  
They flew down the stairs and all of them came to a halt at the bottom of the staircase when they saw Miki. They couldn't help gaping. Miki was handsome, even more than everyday!  
  
He wore blue baggy pants, sneakers, and a loose, long sleeve t-shirt. His hair was wet, leading them to believe that he had just gotten out of the shower. He was wearing almost the same type of clothes he wore everyday, but for some reason, tonight he was different. In his hand was a single, beautiful white rose.  
  
Utena stepped towards Miki smiling, thinking, 'God, Miki is so hot!'  
  
"Hey," Miki said softly to Utena, stepping towards her and giving her a quick kiss on the lips.  
  
Utena returned the favor. "Hey," she repeated softly.  
  
"Here, I brought you a rose. Sorry about it being white, I went to pick up a red one but the floral shop didn't have anymore," Miki said, his expression was apologetic. 'Dayum, she's so hot!'  
  
"It's all right. I know you made the effort." Utena smiled and took the rose from him  
  
Miki grinned. "You look.amazing."  
  
"Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself," Utena told him. She turned back to the girls, "You guys can stop drooling now."  
  
Everyone burst out laughing. Utena's friends had been staring starry-eyed at Miki, checking him out.  
  
Miki's cheeks were slightly pink because of all the attention he had been getting. "Well, let's get going. The movie starts in 15 minutes."  
  
"See ya girls," Utena waved good-bye, handing the rose to Dezeray to put in a small vase, and headed out the door, her arm entwined through Miki's own.  
  
"Those two look so good together," Rei remarked. As they peeked through the window, watching Miki help Utena into his sports car.  
  
The other girls murmured their agreement. In their watching Miki and Utena drive off, no one noticed that a girl had appeared through the back door and was glaring at their backs. She had jet-black hair, cut just below shoulder length, and had piercing green eyes. Green eyes that were now filled with extreme hatred and jealousy.  
  
"Miki WILL be mine!" she silently promised to herself. "Utena Tenjou, you'd better watch your back!"  
  
***********  
  
AN: Weeeeeeelllllll...interesting huh? I dunno, what do you think? Reviews please!  
  
Chapter 15 soon to come! Don't worry, I'm working on it right at this moment. 


	19. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Promises, Both Good & Bad  
  
"That movie was awesome!" Utena exclaimed as the two walked out of the movie theater.  
  
"Yeah, I know, it was, wasn't it?" Miki smiled, sliding his arm around Utena's slim waist.  
  
"That guy was amazing! Those fighting scene were unbelievable!" Utena said, her eyes glittered in laughter.  
  
Miki grinned. "Well I'm glad you had a great time." 'I don't even know what happened. My eyes were glued to Utena the whole time.'  
  
"And I'm glad you had a great time watching me throughout the whole movie." Utena laughed when Miki turned pink.  
  
"You noticed?" Miki was surprised. He didn't know he had been that obvious.  
  
"Uhuh," Utena replied, putting an arm around Miki's waist and leaning her head on his shoulder as they walked down the sidewalk towards the parking lot in which Miki had parked. The theater parking lot had been full so they had had to park a couple blocks away.  
  
Even in the cold night, Miki felt warm next to Utena. Not just from her body heat, but from the feeling of being loved and cared for by someone special. Never before in his life had he felt this way before. He had no siblings and his parents were off on their trips again, leaving him alone, yet again. (AN: Yeah yeah, I know what you're thinking. "But Miki has a sister!!! A twin!!" But in this one, I wanted to change that part, I wanted Miki to seem more...alone in the world, making Utena appear more precious to him). But this time, he had someone to care for, a someone who cared for him. He tightened his arm around Utena, pulling her closer to him. Miki bent his head down slightly and pressed his lips to Utena's forehead in a lingering kiss. Utena lifted her head.  
  
"Miki?" she questioned his sudden affectionate actions, although she didn't mind them at all.  
  
"Utena." Miki stopped walking and Utena stopped also. Miki turned to her. "Utena, you know I love you right?" He stared into her deep blue eyes that mirrored his own, filled with love and warmth.  
  
"Of course," she replied quietly, staring back up into his eyes. "And I love you."  
  
Miki let out a soft breath that he had been holding in, "You-you won't ever leave me, will you?"  
  
Utena understood immediately what was going through his mind. He had told her all about his past and his family. "Of course not," she replied softly. "I'll never leave you. I love you too much; I wouldn't be able to spend one day knowing you aren't with me. I promise you I'll never leave you."  
  
Miki's worry-filled expression broke into a relieved smile. "Really?!" He burst out. Sweeping his arms around Utena, he lifted her up and spun her around, the reminders of loneliness leaving his mind. After a few spins, he gently set her back down on her feet. With his arms still around her, he stared into her eyes again. "Utena, I feel the exact same way about you. I want you to know...I feel like we were meant for each other, as if I've been waiting for my whole life for you.  
  
"When I first saw you that first day at Ohtori, I couldn't believe my eyes. You were the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in my life, and you still are. And I couldn't believe it when you chose me," Miki's voice was husky with emotion.  
  
"Miki."  
  
The two stood kissing in the middle of the sidewalk as other teens headed off into the night. Oblivious to the world around them, the two were entrapped in each other's eyes...not to mention lips.  
  
"Hey! Miki!" a shout caused the couple to pull apart and look around for the speaker.  
  
A girl with black hair and startling green eyes walked towards them, almost walking into people, her eyes never leaving Miki. She was dressed in black pants and a dark green tight tee that brought out her eyes. She wore large silver hopped earrings and carried a dark green knit, shoulder bag.  
  
"Oh, hello Miyasato," Miki greeted, his tone formal and stiff. Utena noticed it right away.  
  
"Why Miki, I thought we agreed to call each other by our first names. After all, we are in a relationship right? A *close* relationship," with those last words, the girl glared straight at Utena.  
  
"Actually, we aren't, and I wasn't aware we ever were in a relationship," Miki replied. He slipped his arm around Utena's waist and pulled her gently, close to his side. He smiled down at Utena, who returned the smile with equal warmth and love. Utena's arm slid around his waist.  
  
'So, this girl is into Miki huh? If she thinks she's gonna move in on my territory, she's got another thing coming.' Utena smiled up at Miki, knowing the girl must want to kill her right then.  
  
The girl scowled, but her expression turned cheerful when Miki looked back up. "So, are you going to introduce us, Miki?" she asked in a sickening- sweet voice.  
  
"Oh, of course. Utena, this is Sayuki Miyasato. She's a first year at Ohtori," Miki said. "Miyasato, this is Utena Tenjou, my girlfriend. She's a year younger than me, a second year."  
  
"Oh, how...'sweet'," Sayuki commented at Miki's introduction of Utena.  
  
"Nice to meet you," Utena said, sending a "just-try-it-I-dare-you" along with it.  
  
"Same here," Sayuki replied, sending back a fiery "fine-this-is-war" look.  
  
Utena smirked. "So you must be the girl that's moving into the East Hall with us." She threw back a "bring-it-on" expression to the other girl.  
  
"Yup, I moved into the third floor, next to Lisa Takata." "Maybe-I-just- will". Then she directed her attention to Miki, smiling brightly up at him. "So Miki, I've been having problems on my history homework, think you could help me out?"  
  
"Sorry, but I already have a student to tutor." He gestured to Utena with a smile.  
  
"Oh. Well, I'm sure Utena could spare some of her 'precious' time with you for some tutoring of a very tutor-needy girl, now can't you, Utena?" Sayuki narrowed her eyes.  
  
"Well, Utena requested my help first, so first come first serve," Miki said quickly. He glanced at his watch. "And look at the time, we have to get going. We'll see you around school. Bye Miyasato." Miki steered Utena away at a power walk.  
  
When they were a block away, Miki let out a breath and slowed to a regular walk.  
  
"Seems like I have competition Miki," Utena laughed.  
  
"No way," Miki disagreed playfully. "She's got nothing on you."  
  
"Really?" Utena looked up at him. "Thanks."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For treating me well." Utena smiled softly.  
  
Miki returned the soft smile. "No problem."  
  
The two walked down the sidewalk, holding each other close, and turned off to the parking lot. Little did they know that a figure stood watching them at the corner. Sayuki scowled. "Damn you Tenjou, Utena," she muttered. "You've brainwashed Miki into thinking he loves you. Well, I won't stand for that. You'll pay Tenjou, and that's a promise so you better count on it! Sayuki Miyasato never goes out on a promise." 


	20. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Invitation  
  
"Hey Yaten!" Mina shouted as she ran towards him, waving an envelope in the air above her head.  
  
Yaten, Taiki, and Seiya all turned around, but it was Yaten who was crushed by Mina's body as she hugged him, squeezing the air out of him, yet again.  
  
"Auhhh! Mehna! Gut uffa meh!" Yaten's muffled yell came from under Mina's arms.  
  
Taiki and Seiya, trying not to laugh, pulled Mina off him.  
  
"Sorry Yaten!" Mina said cheerfully. "I haven't seen you in two days."  
  
Seiya leaned towards Yaten, who was dusting himself off. He whispered with laughter in his voice, "Just imagine what she would do if you had decided to go on that three week school trip."  
  
"Shut up Seiya," Yaten muttered shoving Seiya away.  
  
He turned to Mina. "What do you want?" he snapped.  
  
Mina ignored his tone. "Someone told me to give you this." She handed him the envelope. There was nothing written on it, not even his name.  
  
"What is thi-" Yaten started.  
  
"I don't know! She just told me to give it to you and that it was important. She said she'll see you on Saturday!" Mina called back to them with a wave as she ran off back towards the way she had come.  
  
Yaten watched her go with an eyebrow raised. "Saturday? I didn't make any plans with anybody, especially with a girl." He looked down at the envelope. Flipping it over, he saw a seal shaped like a rose on the flap.  
  
"What's in the envelope?" Seiya asked eagerly. He wanted to know what all that was about.  
  
Taiki sighed. "Seiya, apparently he doesn't know since he hasn't opened it yet."  
  
"Well? Open it!" Seiya told the silver haired boy impatiently, wanting to tear it out of his brother's hands and see for himself what was in it.  
  
"All right, all right," Yaten replied. He pulled open the envelope, careful not to tear the rose seal and pulled out a card. "It's a card. It says:  
  
Kou Yaten,  
  
You have been invited to participate in a downhill battle against me, Tenjou Utena, at the top of Mount Akina at the ten o'clock on this coming Saturday night. Your acceptance or rejection is expected by tomorrow noon. Be aware that a rejection will result as a forfeit or a loss, subtracted from your scorecard. No reply will be taken as a rejection.  
  
Sincerely, Revolutionary Driver A.K.A. Tenjou, Utena.  
  
P.S. Good luck.  
  
"Whoa! Yaten! You're the second!" Seiya exclaimed.  
  
Yaten was in equal shock as his brothers were. He had forgotten that the current winner could also challenge someone.  
  
"Yaten, you should start preparing after classes today," Taiki advised him, taking the card out of his younger brother's stiff hands.  
  
"That post script makes it seem like she knows you'll accept." Seiya said, looking at the card from over Taiki's arm.  
  
"Because she knows I can't forfeit, or else I'll only have 4 points left, 4 races left, and then I'm out of the running for the Powers." Yaten trailed off. 'Maybe there's a way I can beat her. Just maybe...if I can figure out exactly how she beat Keisuke...I can beat her!' He thought with excitement. "You guys, I'll see you back at the dorm," with that, Yaten rushed off, thinking out his idea with such intensity, he didn't even hear his brothers calling after him.  
  
"What was that all about?" Seiya asked Taiki, who only shrugged.  
  
"We should inform the rest of the Council about this," Taiki told him and Seiya nodded in agreement. The two hurried off towards the Student Council room.  
  
Meanwhile.....  
  
A black haired girl stood a few feet away from where the three brothers had been. She smirked.  
  
"So the Student Council and Utena are having something this weekend on Mount Akina. Maybe I should 'watch'," Sayuki Miyasato said with a smirk. 


	21. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Deadly Night  
  
Saturday night.....  
  
The ten cars of the Student Council climbed the steep slopes of Mount Akina. Not long after them, a single car flew up, almost catching up to them.  
  
At the summit, the teens all got out of their cars. Touga called everyone together.  
  
"Everyone, before we start the race. I have to show you something. This pertains to the Revolutionary Races," Touga explained as he set off towards the small shack that was next to the line of trees, a little way from the road. Curiously, the others followed him.  
  
Utena frowned as she followed him. 'What's he up to now?' Miki came up beside Utena and slid an arm around her waist, squeezing her gently and sending her a small smile.  
  
Touga led them behind the shack to a small cleared area beyond the tree line. He stopped at a hidden patch of bushes off to the far right.  
  
Meanwhile...  
  
A dark figure walked around to the front of Utena's FD. Grinning evilly, Sayuki reached into Utena's car through the window and popped the hood. Walking over to the front of the car, she lifted the hood and fiddled with something. A couple minutes later, she closed the hood and patted the FD, still grinning. "Let's see how you deal with this, Tenjou." Hurrying off down the road, she reached her own car, a red convertible and drove off, pleased at her work.  
  
Back to the others...  
  
"What is this Touga?" Julius asked the Council leader.  
  
"Don't you recognize this Julius?" Touga smirked. He gestured to the patch of grass. All of them stood in the center of the circle of the bushes.  
  
In the grass, a shape was clearly shown. Utena gasped, taking a step forward, away from Miki's protective arm.  
  
"Ah yes," Touga looked at Utena. "Of course, you would recognize it."  
  
"This is...this is the-"  
  
"Yes, it is." Touga interrupted. He turned to the others. "This is the emblem of the Rose Kingdom. It has grown here for years, even before we were born. It can't be destroyed, nor can it be altered. Some kind of magical force protects this."  
  
"Why is it here?" Keisuke asked.  
  
"It's here to symbolize that this is the official battling grounds of the Rose Kingdom. Long ago, they raced here, before our time," Touga explained.  
  
"All right. Enough of this." Utena said, turning around. "We have a battle to race." She headed back towards the cars.  
  
***  
  
"Here we go," Yaten murmured to himself as the silver FD glided to a stop next to his silver-green Toyota SW20 MR-2 G-Limited. Taking a deep breath, he turned on his car engine and gripped the steering wheel.  
  
Seiya leaned in through the window of Yaten's MR-2. "Well, good luck Yaten. I don't know what you have planned but hope it helps you."  
  
"Thanks Seiya. Stop worrying about me and start worrying about yourself. You're going to have to race her soon enough."  
  
Seiya shuddered, glancing over at Yaten's opponent who was strapping the double seat belts. "Don't remind me."  
  
Yaten grinned and when Seiya walked back to his own car, Yaten closed the window, and gripped the steering wheel, his palms already sweating.  
  
"Racers ready? Starting the countdown!" Teiya yelled, the two opponents' engines revving. "5...4...3...2.1...Go!" Teiya dropped her hand and the two cars jumped forward, bursting down the stretch.  
  
"Hm," Ryosuke started as he drove after the two. He was leading the pack of cars, with Keisuke in the passenger seat, which included Seiya and Taiki, Miki and Julius. They paired up so that they would only take up four cars as still be able to keep up with the racers. "Keisuke, you remember what I told you about the Revolutionary Driver knowing what you were going to do, what your usual racing technique is?"  
  
"Yeah," Keisuke replied, looking at his brother, wondering what Ryosuke was going to tell him.  
  
"I think Yaten figured it out. I believe he's going to try to outsmart her," Ryosuke revealed.  
  
"Do you think it'll work?" Keisuke questioned.  
  
Ryosuke was silent. Then he spoke, quietly, "I honestly don't know. There's a possibility, with all the skills Tenjou seems to possess, she could be prepared for it and counter it. But Yaten might be able to pull it off. Unfortunately, even though there's a slim chance that she'll miss it, it's still a small chance."  
  
Keisuke thought about his older brother's words. 'Yaten, come on, think. You have a chance and only one chance.'  
  
***  
  
"Crap," Yaten mumbled as he watched his rearview mirror for the silver FD. The FD had been keeping him on his toes for the beginning half of the race. With the FD moving back and forth across the line, out of his line of view, Yaten had had to work to keep track of the FD's position. And yet again, the FD had moved to the right, pulling out of the Yaten's rearview mirror.  
  
Yaten steered to the right, trying to keep the FD behind him. His chance would be coming soon, but until then, he had to stay out in front.  
  
***  
  
"Hm. Something's different about his driving," Utena said to herself. 'He's doing the same as always, staying in front, but something about is driving is changed. What could it be?' Utena studied the car. "He's almost at his line.Oh! His motion of driving hasn't changed; the air surrounding his car is what's different! What is he planning?" Utena bit her lip.  
  
***  
  
"All right!" Yaten said loudly to the emptiness of his car. "This is it!" He sped up even more, keeping a close eye on his opponent. His plan was put into action.  
  
***  
  
"What?" Utena was confused. "What's he doing?" Puzzled, she sped up too.  
  
***  
  
As Yaten neared the turn, he steered his car towards the inside of the turn. "Here we go!" he exclaimed, anticipation causing sweat to break out on his forehead.  
  
***  
  
"Oh!" Utena shouted. 'He's gonna try the gutter trick! I've never seen him practice it though!' She frowned, "Yaten what are you doing!"  
  
***  
  
"Check this out, Utena!" Yaten said, as if she could hear his words. The tires of his MR-2 slid into the gutter. He expertly steered the car, easing it around the turn at a high speed, but not in a drift. No, instead he countered the centrifugal force of the turn and pulled through even faster.  
  
***  
  
"So he has practiced it for a while.Probably before I got here. Wonder why he never tried it out in a race this past year. Oh well, let's see his reaction to this."  
  
Utena sped up and let the rear of her FD drop far. Sliding through, she almost brushed the side of Yaten's MR-2. "Errr...damn," Utena muttered as she pulled ahead of Yaten, but not putting much space in between them. "I almost forgot how much power his car has."  
  
Shoving the gas pedal to the floor, she flew down the stretch, her opponent losing ground ever so slightly.  
  
***  
  
"Ahhh!" Yaten's eyes widened when he saw the FD on the right side of him as they went around the bend. "How'd she...?!?!" Yaten was speechless as Utena pulled out in front of him. Recovering slightly, Yaten thought, 'I can't let her get away! I have to win!' and pounded the pedal to the floor of the car. 'How'd she keep up with me on that corner? I went through faster than she did! And even worse, she passed me!'  
  
***  
  
'Hm,' Utena thought as she glanced into the rearview mirror. 'His MR-2 doesn't have as much power as I do. He can't pas me on the stretches, but if he tries harder, he MIGHT be able to beat me on the corner, MAYBE.' Utena prepared for the next corner. 'Alright Mr. Kou, here's my move.'  
  
***  
  
"What?!" Yaten sputtered. His eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing. Utena had copied his move! And she had more steadiness than he had! "Who is she?!" Yaten said in astonishment.  
  
***  
  
"Okay, the finish line's after this next turn. I think I've got this race!" Utena smiled. Yaten was right behind her, but she could still win.  
  
Prepping for the next turn, Utena took the outside lane. She slammed on the brakes at just the right moment and the rear dropped. She slid through the corner exactly on her line and that pleased her.  
  
Pulling out of the corner, she smiled. The finish line was right in front of her. She also saw Kelly and Nausicaa standing alongside the road, ready to report back to Touga who had stayed behind at the starting line who had won and by how many seconds.  
  
Suddenly, as Utena neared the finish line, she slowed on the brakes, as there was a multiple clunk. Utena was taken off guard. "What?" She looked down at the pedal. Then she knew what had happened. "My brake pads are gone!"  
  
The finish line loomed closer and then she passed over it. Utena gritted her teeth and jerked the wheel to the right, not being able to slow down. Her car skid to the left towards the next turn but she was going too fast. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yaten's car stop just after the finish line and she saw two figures jump out of the way just as her car flipped over and rolled over twice, hitting the guardrail with a jarring thud.  
  
Utena breathed hard, opening her eyes, she saw feet running towards her. Realizing that her FD was toppled on to its hood and par of the hood rested on the guardrail, she put a hand to her aching head.  
  
"Utena!" a frantic voice called.  
  
"I-I'm fine," Utena said trying to get her bearings.  
  
The three sets of feet ran over to her and the door was wrenched open. Yaten, Nausicaa, and Kelly stared down at her with pale faces. Utena took a deep breath to calm the fast beating of her heart.  
  
"Are you all right Utena?" Nausicaa asked her, her voice shaking.  
  
"Ye-Yeah, I'm fine. Can you get me outta here?" Utena replied.  
  
Yaten reached in and gently held her up as Kelly unbuckled her double- shoulder seat belts. As they hauled her out as carefully as they could, cars pulled up with screeches of their tires and doors were slammed shut.  
  
"Utena!" Miki yelled and shot towards the four teens as Yaten carried Utena over to the nearby sidewalk and lightly lowered her to the ground, leaning her back against the fence that lined the trees.  
  
"Oh God!" Julius ran to them, his eyes wide and fear written on his face.  
  
"What happened?! Are you all right Utena? Are you hurt?" Miki asked quickly as he dropped down next to her. He took her into his arms. Utena held on to his arm.  
  
"I-I.....My brake pads came loose or something and I couldn't stop. I tried to get around the turn, but I was going too fast," Utena said quietly. "The FD rolled and it hit the guardrail." She looked up at Miki. Her face had reached its normal color. "But I'm fine. Don't worry about it." Utena started to get up, and Miki helped her.  
  
Utena grabbed harder on to his arm as she slightly swayed back and forth. "Whoa, still kinda dizzy," she explained. Utena regained her balance a moment or two later and she lightened her hold on his arm.  
  
When the others saw that she was okay, they went over to observe the wreck of her car.  
  
Kelly gave a low whistle. "This FD is totaled. It's amazing how the driver's side of the car remained intact while the rest of the FD was crumpled during the accident."  
  
"Hm," Ryosuke agreed, looking closely at the car. 'This is really weird. With how she explained it, the driver's side would have gotten the most damage, especially from rolling over and landing on that side. But for some reason, there's only a lot of deep scrapes and a few dents. What happened?' But Ryosuke said nothing.  
  
Everyone looked up the road when they heard the screeching of tires traveling down the road and after a moment, they saw Touga's orange car gliding around the turn. He pulled up next to Utena, Miki, and Julius and jumped out of his car. There was shock in his wide eyes. Clearly, the RK hadn't told him something would happen to the Revolutionary Driver.  
  
The Council members filled him in on what happened, through Utena's account, of what she told them as Miki took Utena a little ways away from the others and wrapped his arms around her. Utena stood, leaning against him, with her arms around his waist. She could tell that Miki had been shook hard.  
  
Miki whispered into her ear, "Utena, you really scared me, you know."  
  
"I'm sorry Miki. I didn't realize that my brakes were gone until I almost hit the finish line. I mean, they were fine all the way to Mount Akina. I just don't understand it."  
  
Miki tightened his hold on Utena's slim frame as he thought about what she went through. 'Maybe we aren't meant for each other. Maybe fate wants to pull us apart.with death,' he thought, closing his eyes and burying his face in Utena's hair.  
  
"Somebody better call a tow truck!" Nausicaa called out when she looked at the car. Touga reached for his cell phone. 


	22. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Scoldings  
  
"Utena! Your FD!" Keisuke said horrified at what he saw. He imagined his own precious FD like this, and it was too much to bear.  
  
"It's okay. It was my favorite car, but I'll live," Utena said. And then, as if she had just remembered something she said, "Oh man, Kaneda's gonna have a field day with this," Utena groaned, staring at her FD as the man pulled the now mangled car off the guardrail with his tow truck.  
  
"Who's Kaneda?" Julius asked her.  
  
"He's a friend of mine. He and three other of my friends are the ones I stayed with, and the ones who helped me fix up the FD to what it is now, or what it was, anyway." Utena smiled. "At least I'm not injured so I can still race."  
  
"But you don't have a car, Utena." Seiya said quizzically. "How can you race without a car?"  
  
"Who said the FD was my only car?" Utena grinned. "I have other cars, but I usually drive the FD because it's my favorite."  
  
"How many other cars do you have?" Kelly asked her.  
  
"Why don't you come with me and see? I have to take the FD to Kaneda and the guys' house tonight."  
  
Miki immediately offered, "I'll drive you over." He was still worried that Utena was still feeling dizzy.  
  
"Alright." Utena went over and gave the tow truck driver the address of the guys' house and went back to the others. "Okay. Let's go."  
  
***  
  
Utena told Miki to park his car in front of the garage door and directed Kelly, Nausicaa, Keisuke, Seiya, Yaten, and Ryosuke to pull up Kelly's and Ryosuke's cars up behind them, followed by Seiya's own car. Kelly and Nausicaa rode together in Kelly's car and the two Takahashi brothers rode together. Julius rode with Miki and Utena and the Kou brothers rode together.  
  
Utena got out of the car just as the front door opened and Chris walked out. "Utena? What happened? Why are all these people here?"  
  
"Oh Chris, these are some.friends of mine," Utena said. She gestured to Miki who climbed out of his car, "That's Miki, my boyfriend."  
  
"Ah, so you finally brought your friends around to check out your cars huh?" Chris stopped short as he turned towards the door. He turned back to Utena. "Wait a minute, where's your car?" Dread filled Chris's face.  
  
"Uh, about the FD. I had a little.trouble at the end of a race," Utena said sheepishly.  
  
Chris groaned, wiping his face with his hand. "What happened?"  
  
"Well, see for yourself," Utena told him and gestured towards the end of the parking lot as the tow truck backed up into the driveway.  
  
"Holy shet!" Chris rushed over to the FD. His eyes were wide and he looked over the once-perfect car.  
  
After a few moments, he got over his shock. "Oh my god Utena. It's finally happened. You've finally wrecked a car. Why did the first car you ever wrecked have to be the FD?"  
  
"You knew it was going to the FD, it's my main car, or was," Utena said, looking at her beloved car, feeling some sadness at the condition it was now in.  
  
"Kaneda's gonna freak," Chris told Utena.  
  
"I know," Utena sighed. "Where is he?"  
  
"In the garage with the others."  
  
"Well, might as well get it over with." Utena headed around the side of the house, taking the side door to the patio that led to the garage.  
  
***  
  
The garage door hummed and started to rise. When there was just enough room for a body to slip through underneath, three people rushed out, faces filled with astonishment.  
  
"What the hell?!?!" Kaneda shouted when he saw the car and let out a stream of curses.  
  
"Dayum Utena. You did a good job in totaling it," Duo, the jokester of the guys, laughed.  
  
"Thanks a lot Duo," Utena said dryly. "That makes me feel a whole lot better.  
  
"Hey, just trying to lighten the mood since Kaneda isn't," Duo grinned.  
  
Trowa, the quiet one of the five walked around the car as the tow truck man unhitched it. He looked over at Utena. "You tried to turn, huh? And it flipped?"  
  
"Yup," Utena replied to the genius and the quietest of the five. She hadn't told them yet how it had happened.  
  
Trowa said, crossing his arms as he studied the FD, "Hm, this is going to be hard to repair."  
  
"Repair?" Keisuke said with raised eyebrows. "The FD doesn't look like it can be repaired."  
  
"Oh it can. Just needs a little work."  
  
"A little?!" Kaneda burst out. He was almost pulling out his hair. "The FD used to be a masterpiece! It had a custom engine, great handling...And now look at it! Damn damn damn!"  
  
***  
  
A few minutes later...  
  
Kaneda sighed, calming down slightly. He looked over at Utena. "I'm not mad at you, Utena. It's just, we worked so hard on the FD after you got it and...and..." Kaneda was at a loss of words. He could only gesture towards the crumpled piece of metal.  
  
"It's all right Kaneda. At least now you guys have something else to work on besides your Celica," Utena said with a smile.  
  
"Yeah you're right, like always." Kaneda sighed. Then, as if he just noticed the new people he asked Utena. "So who are these people Utena?"  
  
"Oh, this is Kelly, Nausicaa, Keisuke, Ryosuke, Seiya, Yaten, my older brother Julius, and my boyfriend Miki." Utena introduced. "Everyone, this is Kaneda, Chris, Trowa, Duo, and DJ."  
  
"Boyfriend?" Kaneda frowned. "Oh well, I should have figured it wouldn't be me." He grinned.  
  
"Damn right Kaneda." Utena returned the grin. She turned back to the Student Council members. "These guys let me crash with them for about a year. They helped me with my cars and stuff."  
  
"Right, and living with Utena isn't easy, lemme tell you," Duo said with a grin. He imitated a stressed out and motherly-type Utena, "'Pick that up! Quick acting immature! Don't leave your stuff lying around! What'll people think when they come over?!'"  
  
Everyone laughed. "All right all right. I admit it. I WAS a little bit like that. But you should have seen their house! The only place that was clean was their garage and-" Utena suddenly stopped and then turned on the guys, one arched eyebrow raised in a frown. Noticing their sheepish looks, especially on Chris's she deliberately crossed her arms over her chest. "All right, let me see the house."  
  
"Uh, that could be a problem. You see, we, uh, haven't had time to clean up because this visit was really unexpected," DJ started to explain quickly. "Usually, it's pretty clean, but Duo and Chris had a water balloon fight in there a little while ago so." DJ trailed off when Utena strode towards the door.  
  
"Ahhh man," Chris groaned as Utena disappeared inside the house. "We're bus- ted."  
  
Curious to see what they were all talking about, Utena's friends trailed after her. The sight, which greeted them, shocked them.  
  
There were all articles of clothing draped over every surface, car magazines piled un-neatly under the coffee table, and some more scattered around the room. From beneath the clothes, they could see empty soda cans, take-out boxes, plates, bowls, silverware, and candy wrappers littering the tables. The couches were covered with more wrinkled clothes and had a collection of Gameboy racecar games strewn across the cushions and even more magazines. There was a Playstation 2 game console plugged into the wide screen TV and racing video games surrounded it, as if they had been in a pile and then had been knocked over.  
  
Keisuke gave a low whistled. "Look's exactly like a multiple bachelor pad."  
  
"Exactly," Utena agreed, her hands on her hips. She sighed. "Oh well. At least they cleaned up a little. It was worse earlier this evening."  
  
"Worse?!" Kelly wrinkled her nose. "It can't possibly get worse than this."  
  
"Uh, you're wrong there," Chris said timidly, as he and the others came in through the door behind them. "It WAS worse."  
  
"I'm guessing you cleaned some of it up, Trowa?" She turned to the dark brown haired guy with mysterious and calculating eyes with a smile in her eyes, but a frown upon her lips.  
  
"Yeah," he replied in his quiet and deep voice and then shrugged. "Had to do something while the guys were working on the FD. They were trying to see if they could go through a day without my help, which they couldn't of course." He smiled.  
  
"And all you got done was...this?" Utena gestured wildly to the room.  
  
"Well, I did clean up, like half of it," Trowa scratched his head, "but then I saw the games on the floor so I got caught up in that. I beat Kaneda's high score though."  
  
"You what?!" Kaneda was wide-eyed. "I was only able to beat Utena's score two months ago, and now you beat my score?! Already?!"  
  
"Al right all right. Enough of that," Utena said. "These guys came to see my cars, not you guys bicker over who should have the high score the longest," she said, and she added with a grin, "which should be me." Before the five young gamers could protest her statement, she gestured to the others, "Come on. They're in the back garage."  
  
Utena led the group down the narrow halfway to the main garage. In the garage, she went over to a keypad along the wall and hit a series of numbers. The "wall" at the back of the garage slowly started to rise. 


	23. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Utena's Stash  
  
"Whoa." Seiya said, having thought that it was just another sturdy, normal garage wall.  
  
"The guys installed this so I could keep my stuff here." She ducked under the slowly raising door. The others followed.  
  
"Wow! This is all yours?" Nausicaa said in amazement.  
  
In front of the group sat 13 totally souped-up cars, sparkling as if they were new. There were three Honda Civic DXs, dark green, pale blue, and dark purple (almost a black); a silver Toyota Celica; a red Nissan S13 Silvia K's; two Mistubishi Lancer Evoluton VIIIs, white and silver; and two Mazda RX-7 FC3S Savannahs, black and dark blue. Behind these drift-based cars, were parked two Ferraris. One was a goldish-yellow, and the other was bright red. These two were most likely used for the drag racing that happened on Monday and Thursday nights on the longest side street in Akina, which was about a mile and a half. There were also two other cars parked so that they were barely visible behind the two Ferraris. The two cars were a pale blue Subaru STi and a black Nissan Skyline GT-R.  
  
"You have two FCs?" Ryosuke asked in astonishment at her owning the same type of car as he himself drove.  
  
"Yeah. I love RX-7s, but Evos are my favorite, after all, it's got 4WD. The Honda Civic hatchback comes in at a close second on my list though. And I'm waiting for a Nissan 350Z to come in."  
  
"A 350Z?! You're getting one?!" Keisuke was flabbergasted. "That's supposed to be the best car today."  
  
(AN: Okay, I'm incorporating a new car into this. I know the "times" don't match up with these cars...but it sounds more interesting with cars from today, right?)  
  
"Yeah. A friend of mine was able to get me a great deal. Only 24 grand!" Utena said proudly.  
  
"'Only?!?!'" Julius exclaimed with wide eyes. "Where the hell do you get that kind of money?!"  
  
"I DO work you know," Utena retorted, her hand on her hip.  
  
"What do you do?" Julius asked, afraid at what she did for work. 'There's only one way she could get THAT much money in a short time!'  
  
Utena glared at him. She knew exactly what he was thinking. "I am NOT in that line of work! I DO NOT do exotic dancing OR porno movies!"  
  
"Be great if you did though," muttered Kaneda.  
  
"You. Shut up." Utena whipped around to face him, having heard his little comment. She turned back to her brother and Miki. "Actually, I work at Pyro Autoshop's extension, Pyro Racing AutoShop." (It's spelled like that, not a mis-"print").  
  
"You do?" Kelly asked a surprised expression on her face. "My older brother works there. I've been there tons of times but I've never seen you there."  
  
"I'm only called in for special projects or works. Your brother's name is Kenzo, right? I noticed you guys look somewhat alike," Utena told her.  
  
"He never told me that there was a girl working there," Kelly went on. 'Something's up with Utena's story,' she thought, narrowing her eyes.  
  
"He isn't supposed to. The manager thought it'd be bad business if word got out that a female was working at Pyro's," Utena explained with disgust. She sighed. "You see, in the current street circuit, women are thought to 'defile the car,' as they put it. When I went in for the job, the manager told me 'no' right off the bat. I knew he had to give me a chance to apply for the job because it was against the law to not allow a person apply for a job, so he gave me a form and said that I had to undergo a timed run in fixing a car. I fixed the car he assigned me in less than the time limit, and he was really impressed, so he gave me the job," Utena told them.  
  
"I found out later from Kenzo that the manager had given me the so-called 'non-fixable car' and had given me a much more difficult time frame to fix the car within. So, to sum it all up, I only work a few times a week, in the evening, in the back of the garage, with Kenzo and the other top mechanics," Utena said. She turned to Kelly who was frowning. "You can ask your brother if you want, and tell him I told you."  
  
"I'll do that," Kelly said. But the frown was still clear on her face.  
  
"So, you only have cars?" Seiya asked, changing the subject.  
  
"Mostly, but I have a few motorcycles too. Check it out." Utena headed over to the right side of the hidden garage, where there was an unusually wide door. Unlocking the padlock that hung from the chain that was looped through the metal holes drilled into the tab of metal, she pulled the sliding door open and gestured to her companions to enter.  
  
There, before them, were half a dozen motorcycles, parked in a horizontal line in front of the door. Julius recognized a few. There was a Ducati Supersport 900, a Kawasaki Ninja ZZR1200, a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R, a Honda CBR1100, a Suzuki Hayabusa, and Suzuki GSXR1000.  
  
"Whoa," Miki said quietly to himself. He approached the Kawasaki Ninja ZZR1200 as the others headed off towards other motorcycles of their liking. Utena came up behind Miki as he rested his hands on the front and back ends of the seat. She slid her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder blade.  
  
"Wow," Miki said to Utena, in a slightly louder voice. "This bike is..."  
  
"Yeah, I know. It's my favorite bike." Utena smiled.  
  
"Well, that's not surprising," Miki said with a smile, looking down at his girlfriend. "We seem to have the same interests for almost everything, huh?"  
  
"You know it."  
  
"Hey Utena!" called out Seiya who had hopped aboard the Ducati and was imagining himself racing this monster of a motorcycle. "You think I could take a spin on this sometime?"  
  
Utena let go of Miki and turned to look at the others, "Yeah sure." She saw Seiya and Nausicaa over by the Ducati, while Julius was checking out the ZX- 12R, Yaten as running his hands over the CBR1100 in amazement, Taiki and Keisuke were by the Hayabusa, and Ryosuke was studying the GSXR. Ryosuke walked around the motorcycle slowly, as if he was trying to see every detail. Utena strolled over to him. "So how do you like this Suzuki?"  
  
"Huh?" Ryosuke looked up, distractedly. "Oh, yeah. How did you get this model? I thought it wasn't out on the markets yet."  
  
"Yeah, it isn't. A friend of mine pulled a few strings to get me this early," Utena smiled. "It's kind of fun showing it off on the streets. It's my second favorite bike."  
  
"Oh? And which is your first favorite?" Ryosuke raised an eyebrow. "It's not the Ducati, is it?"  
  
"No. It's the ZZR1200." Utena laughed. "I prefer that one because it was given to me by a really good friend of mine. And it's the one that I train with too. I'm more comfortable with it in the rain."  
  
"So that WAS you. I thought it was." When Utena looked questioningly at him, he explained, "Keisuke and I were driving back from Akagi one night and we saw a biker racing down the main streets in the rain. The racer was uniformly balanced, even on the slick pavement, and seemed to have total control of the high-speed motorcycle. Do you train like that every rainy night?"  
  
"Yeah. It helps a lot. You can shoot off the line faster after you practice on the wet pavement, and you learn more control," Utena explained.  
  
"That's what I heard from some friends of mine who race motorcycles in Kawasaki Prefecture. They train like that too, every rainy night. They said I'd be a pretty decent motorcyclist." Ryosuke smiled. "But cars are more my style."  
  
Utena laughed. "I was just the opposite. I lived off motorcycles. I lived at a motorcycle track for a while...and I was practically a track brat." She laughed again. "Everyone knew me, and I didn't know anyone else but their motorcycles."  
  
"Hey you all, it's almost two in the morning. I think we should get back to the academy," Julius called out to them. There were murmurs of agreement as the Council members reluctantly dragged their eyes from the awesome motorcycles.  
  
As the teens exited the garage, Miki said to Utena, "We'll wait in the car."  
  
"Hey Utena!" Chris called from the front of the garage. "We put your FD in here. We can start assessing it tomorrow morning."  
  
"Thanks, but I think it'd be better if you guys just used it for parts, instead of wasting time fixing it up," Utena said. Padlocking the sliding metal door, she followed the council members out to the front garage.  
  
"What?" Kaneda said "You just want to break this thing down? After all that hard work we all put into it?"  
  
"Yeah. Anyway, you guys can use some parts for the FD you guys bought from Manni Komitsu. It would be more worth the time," Utena said. She glanced over at the rusted FD3S that the boys had bought with the plan of fixing it up and souping up to sell to some racers.  
  
"I guess," Kaneda admitted. He left out a small breath and then said, "Then I guess we can work on your green or blue Civic."  
  
"I'm going to be racing the green one now, so either the blue or the purple," Utena told them.  
  
"I never liked the color purple, so it's going to have to be the blue," Kaneda said.  
  
"Alright. I'll stop by after school tomorrow," Utena said as she headed out the garage. Then she stopped and poked her head back in. "And I expect that house to be picked up, at the least."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Author ------- Not much for small talk...but...  
  
Mai: Hey, well, this fanfic is getting even more longer. Dayum, I was only planning on it getting to about 10 chapters. I think I'm gonna keep on writing it until I feel like it has reached the end. I know I haven't uploaded chapters as soon as I would like, but I've been pretty busy with work and all. I can't believe I'm this !stressed out!-during summer vaca!!! Imagine me during the school year. Lol. Nah, I'm pretty much slacking, but anyway, enjoy the rest of the story. I'll try to upload the chapters every once and a while (hopefully at least every two weeks) for you guys. Thanks for reading this far, I hope you guys have liked it, so far. 


	24. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Not An Accident  
  
Sunday morning.  
  
Trowa leaned under the hood of the FD. He studied the engine and thought, 'Hm, I wonder what caused Utena's brakes to give.' He poked around the car, checking everything.  
  
A half hour later.  
  
*ring, ring*  
  
"Oh, that's my cell," Utena said to Miki. She reached into the back pocket of her jeans and produced a silver Nokia phone. "Hello?"  
  
-Utena, it's Trowa.-  
  
"Hey Tro. What's up?" Utena answered brightly as she and Miki stopped to sit on a bench.  
  
-I have found out some interesting things about the accident.-  
  
"What'd you find?"  
  
-Well, do you have any enemies?-  
  
Utena thought for a moment. 'Why is he asking me that? Unless...' She looked startled. She exclaimed into the phone, "No way!" causing Miki to look at her curiously. He wondered what was going on.  
  
-Yeah. Your FD was sabotaged. Someone 'cut the brake fluid'. And they definitely did a good job of it too.-  
  
"Damn," Utena muttered. Then she thought of one person. Sayuki Miyasato. She was the only one that Utena had made angry, since she arrived at Ohtori. Unless of course, you count the number of people Utena had beaten in car and motorcycle races. She clenched her jaw. 'That god damn bitch! My FD is wrecked thanks to her fucking jealousy! When I get my hands on her, she's gonna wish she never even met me, much less pissed me off!' Even as Utena was thinking these things, her facial features became relaxed, so Miki had no clue as to what was going on. All that showed of her anger was her slightly clenched jaw.  
  
-Utena? You there?-  
  
"Yeah. Listen, I'll stop by this evening to check it out. Thanks Trowa," Utena said without emotion.  
  
-No prob. Later.-  
  
Utena hung up. She thought quietly for a few moments and then turned to Miki with a bright smile. "Why don't we get some ice cream, Miki?"  
  
Miki studied Utena. He had thought something was wrong before, but Utena seemed unbothered so he let it go. Miki smiled. "Sure. Come on, it'll be my treat." Miki stood up and offered his hand to Utena.  
  
Utena smiled. She took his hand as she said, "All right."  
  
***  
  
Two hours later, Utena kissed Miki good-night at the door of the East Hall dormitory and, with a smile to Miki, went in. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she narrowed her eyes in anger and slowly began to climb the staircase. She walked down the hallway, to a door on the right of the hall. She stood in front of the door silently, her deep anger showing on her face as she clenching her fists at her sides.  
  
On the right side of the closed door was a panel of wood. Upon the small piece of wood, the name Miyasato was engraved, in fancy lettering that was just like the other doors.  
  
Utena raised a hand and knocked firmly on the door. A quiet voice called from within, "Come in." Utena turned the doorknob slowly and entered.  
  
Inside, a small lamp beside the bed lighted the room. The room was painted in a dark green color and the bedspread and furniture matched the colors of the room. On the silk sheets of the bed, sitting cross-legged was Sayuki Miyasto.  
  
"I wondered when you were going to get back. Had fun?" Sayuki said simply.  
  
"You bitch," Utena stated. "You fucking bitch. You had no fucking right to tamper with my car!"  
  
"Tenjou, I'd watch my language if I were you. Others would hear," Sayuki told her, her expression still defiant, despite the fury Utena was expressing.  
  
"I don't give a damn what other people hear! My favorite car is a wreck because of your jealous-ass!" Utena told her, raising her voice slightly.  
  
"You don't have proof that I did it," Sayuki told her with a smirk. "You won't find any of my fingerprints or hair strands, or whatever those C.S.I. people look for." Sayuki laughed. "Give me a break, like wrecking your car is a big deal."  
  
"You may think you won on this round, but you had better watch your back from now on," Utena warned. Then she smirked. "You never know, something bad could happen when your back's turned," with that, Utena strode back out of the room, slamming the door after her.  
  
Sayuki ran her tongue over her top teeth in irritation and glared at the closed door. "You're right; something could."  
  
***  
  
Utena headed over to the guys' house a couple hours later to inspect the sabotage.  
  
"It looks like this person meant business," Trowa told her, leaning against the car as she examined it.  
  
"Yeah," Utena muttered, "all because of some stupid jealousy."  
  
"Jealousy? Over Miki? Or your talents and skills in almost everything?" Trowa seemed slightly amused by it.  
  
"Over Miki," Utena said gruffly. "That bitch Miyasato followed me out here last night and did this to my FD all because she likes Miki and is jealous over my relationship with him."  
  
"Hmm...sounds just like that girl Kaneda dumped after he dated her for like a week. She seemed way too clingy and she didn't like the rest of us, especially you."  
  
"Yeah, I remember her. She probably thought I was gonna steal her 'precious baby boy Kaneda,'" Utena rolled her eyes as she said this. Then she looked at Trowa. "So what about you? Found a girl you like?"  
  
Trowa looked away from her and his face had a pink tinge to it. "Actually, I met this girl at the Japan Performance shop across the city. She works there," he said.  
  
Utena was amazed. The guys had each been trying to snag a girl who was interested in cars, but they had each failed to do so, that is, except Trowa. Trowa had always been the quiet one out of the guys. He had told Utena before that he just didn't feel comfortable talking to girls, excluding Utena, because he was always getting nervous around them. "Wow, so she knows cars huh?"  
  
"Yeah. I went over there to order a couple tanks of nitro and we started talking about that. It turns out she's a racer too, although she doesn't have as much time as I do to race. Her older cousin is the manager of Japan Performance so she kind of grew up learning about cars. She's lived in Japan her whole life and she started driving when she was fifteen. She's 19 right now and she's single."  
  
"You seem to know a lot about her," Utena grinned at him as she implied that. Her comment caused Trowa's blush to darken. "So did you ask her out yet?"  
  
"W-Well, I DID invite her to a drag meet. I'm going to go pick her up and drive her over," Trowa stuttered, looking down at the car as if he was trying to see right through the metal.  
  
Utena smiled and gave him a curt nod. "Sounds just like a racer's dream date: a date who loves racing and who's actually got some clue as to how the car runs. Lucky you."  
  
Trowa looked at Utena with a raised eyebrow. They looked at each other for two seconds before both burst out laughing.  
  
***  
  
The next morning, Utena was still in a fury over what Miyasato had done. There was no doubt about it: Miyasato had definitely been the felon. Utena was determined to get even with her.  
  
~*~*~  
  
AN: Sorry it's so short. I haven't had much inspiration lately, plus the frickin' HW the teachers are giving aren't helping at all. I'll try to upload the next chapter soon. Don't blame me! Blame it on the KHS teachers! 


	25. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: Cat Fight**

Tuesday

Utena was feeling good that morning. She and Miki had spent the morning break walking through the courtyard and having a friendly debate over whether the police should follow through on their plan to end the latest problem they were focusing on: street racers. The local street racers had migrated onto the main streets of Tokyo and were, as the law enforcers said, "holding up traffic and making loud, disturbing noises which was causing too many people to complain." Miki was agreeing with the police that street racing was a dangerous sport and should be stopped, but Utena was saying that the city should build a good straight-away track that would be perfect for the street racers. The two had finally decided that whatever the police did, at least they were focused on the city street racers and not on the mountain racers, which were not as well known because of the fact that the nearby mountains were well out of the city.  These locations were absolutely perfect because there were rarely any other non-racing cars driving there at night.

Nothing seemed to be able to get Utena down as she walked down the hall in school...that is, until she saw the face of Sayuki Miyasato glaring at her before entering a classroom.

"Damn that frickin' bitch," Utena muttered to herself as the teacher entered the class.

Utena was still muttering the same things when the lunch bell rang. Miki found her with tight lips and a scowl upon her beautiful face as she practically stalked down the hall. He came up behind her and slipped an arm around her waist. "Hey," he said and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, "What's wrong? Did something happen?" he squeezed her tense side gently.

Utena relaxed into his hug and sighed. "Nah, nothing important. I failed a math test."

"Well, if you need tutoring, I can give you some lessons," Miki said with a smile. "We can study in my dorm."

Utena smirked. "Lessons on what, huh, Mr. Kaoru? Are you trying to imply something?"

Miki's cheeks turned pink. "Not exactly."

Utena chuckled. She squeezed their intertwined fingers. "Well, I'll take your offer of help with math."

"Good," Miki smiled down at her. Gazing into her eyes, he leaned down and gently placed a kiss upon her lips.

"Hey! No smooching in the hallways!" a voice screeched from behind the two.

The couple broke apart and looked behind them to see a laughing Mina and the rest of the gang. "Hey guys. What's up?"

"Oh, we were just making plans to head over to a club Saturday night. Mina found a good one that's ten minutes away if we walk."

"What do you think Miki? Do you wanna go?" Utena looked up at her boyfriend.

"Sure," Miki grinned, "sounds like fun."

"All right. We'll make all the plans and stuff later. The bell's about to ring," Seiya announced and each person headed off in the direction of his/her class.

Utena slipped into the gym just as the bell rang and Ms. Nakahara called the class to order. "Everyone, today we will be doing something different. Today we have lessons in kendo."

There were exclamations of glee and groans of dismay but everyone went to the locker rooms and changed into their gym clothes. The boys did the same after they were told the same thing by their gym teacher, Mr. Kawamoto. When they appeared in the gym again, the teacher assigned each person an "armor" uniform to wear.

Utena easily slipped into hers, while others struggled to slide on the "heavy" padding. The class assembled on the side of the gym as the top members of the Ohtori Private Academy kendo team filed in through the doors of the gym. Utena, standing in the back, easily spotted Miki and Yaten. She knew they had both been on the kendo team since they were freshmen so Utena knew they had to be good, after all, Ohtori didn't have the title of top national kendo team for nothing.

"All right class, you are now to listen to the kendo team and anyone who disobeys their orders will be written up," Ms Nakahara called out and left the gym.

"Sorry I'm late, Miki. Had a meeting to attend to," Julius was breathing hard as he hurried up to Miki and Yaten with his kendo mask under his arm and his kendo sword in his hand.

"No prob," Miki answered. "We're just showing the students some of the basic moves right now."

"All right, I'll—hey I didn't know Utena was in this class," Julius said, just spotting Utena over on the far side of the gym.

"I didn't know either until I paired up the students," Miki said, looking at his girlfriend who was talking with another girl. "She's pretty good, you know."

"Really?"

"Well, I only saw her go through a few moves but she seems comfortable with it and her form is absolutely perfect," Miki analyzed.

"Well, let's see," Julius said. He headed towards Utena.

Utena saw him before he reached her. "Hey Jul."

"Hey baby sister. How about a friendly match between siblings?" Julius invited.

"Sure," Utena agreed. She slipped on her mask and Julius did the same. As is on cue, the two siblings moved at the same time, Utena swishing her sword forward and Julius moved to block it.

A half hour and lots of sweat later, the two ended their match. As the two pulled off their mask, breathing hard and grinning, Miki and the other students, who had been watching, applauded them.

"Wow Utena, you've got some pretty fast moves there," Julius complimented his sister.

"Yeah, but they weren't fast enough," Utena said and laughed.

"Of course. I'm older, faster, and stronger. I'm always going to win, no matter what," Julius teased her.

"You better knock on wood, big brother, your luck will run out soon," Utena promised. A grin was upon her face.

"We'll see," Julius replied with a smirk.

Miki, Julius, and Yaten sat together on one of the benches as they watched the other kendo team members giving pointers to students. They talked about the upcoming martial arts competition that was to be held in three weeks.

"All right students," called out Ms. Nakahara, who had returned, half an hour later. "Now you may all have practice sessions for the upcoming martial arts demonstration. I hope you all remember the lessons from last week…" she sent them all a stern look. "When I call out your names, I want you to begin practicing with your partner. You will be paired up according to your skill level."

Utena's piercing eyes immediately shot across the room to Sayuki, who in turn was glaring right back at her. They had never been paired up before Utena hoped that she was partners with the girl, in the hopes of teaching her a lesson or two about messing with Utena Tenjou.

"Katsuhiro and Tsukino. Sato and Shirozuki. Miyasato and Tenjou….."

Utena smirked. "Perfect," she said to herself. She pulled off the "armor" for kendo and stood up. Underneath she wore her street clothes.

"…may all wear street clothes, as you did during previous sessions, if you wish," the teacher called out. "The kendo team members and I will be walking around to see if you are in a controlled match. Don't go overboard, or you'll be seeing the principal," she threatened.

Miyasato made her way across the gym and the two met in the center.

"I have to see this match," Julius said quietly to Miki. "I saw the scores of last month's matches and they were really close. If the class had been longer they would have had to face each other then."

"Yeah. Let's see how good Utena and Miyasato are," Miki said with interest.

"You ready to lose?" Sayuki smirked. The two girls circled in a seemingly-casual way, but if anyone looked closely, they would see that both girl's body's were stiff, as if ready to spring forward.

"Are _you_ ready for me to kick your ass?" Utena retorted back.

"I'd like to see you try," Sayuki looked Utena up and down with contempt.

"Something's up with these two. What do you think this is about?" he muttered to his blue haired companion.

"Well, Miyasato always was jealous of one girl or another. Maybe it's because Utena has become so popular at Ohtori?"

"Or maybe it's because you dumped her ages ago and now you're going out with Utena and won't take Miyasato back," Julius told him.

"I don't think so," Miki told him. "Miyasato knows that I don't like her in that way, so why should she be angry about Utena and me getting together?"

"Miki, you obviously don't know how a girl's mind works," Julius grinned and slapped his best friend on the back. "Miyasato's probably jealous of the fact that you like Utena better than her." Then, the two heard Sayuki's louder outburst and they turned back to the combatants.

"You're going to be sorry you ever met me, much less came to this school! I'm going to kick your ass back to wherever the hell you came from!"

"Well then bring it, slut," Utena shot back. "Let's see if you can do anything besides vandalism and sleeping with guys."

"You're calling me a slut? After you showed up here and latched on to Miki as if you owned him, you fuckin' bitch?" Sayuki said

"What did I tell you?" Julius said to Miki with a grin.

"You think you can just steal _my_ guy just because you think you're better than me? You're the slut! I'll bet you've already slept with him! Including half, if not _all_, the guys in this school!" Sayuki said it so loudly that the whole class heard it and everything stopped, every pair of eyes was upon the two, but the girls didn't take any notice. 

Miki and Julius, who had been listening to the heated conversation from the beginning, looked at each other in surprise. Mrs. Nakahara headed towards the girls to intervene, but Julius stopped her. "Let them be. It's better that they do this here than in a classroom where someone else could get seriously hurt."

The teacher looked like she was about to object, but everyone knew that the Student Council had the run of the school (the principal's wishes), so she nodded stiffly and stepped back.

Julius sat back down next to Miki. 

"I don't care what kind of sick fantasy you're playing in your head, but in reality, Miki was never "yours". And it's nobody's business whether we did or didn't!" Utena retorted back at her. "So why don't you just get a real life instead of depending on others to do the real living for you."

"You're_ so_ gonna get your ass kicked!" Sayuki practically snarled. 

Sayuki made the first move. She lunged at Utena with her fist flying, but Utena easily slid under her arm and shoved a fist into her stomach.

"Oof!" Sayuki's hand went to her stomach and she backed up, her angry eyes upon her more composed opponent. "Lucky punch." Sayuki went forward with more determination. She went for a chop from the side but Utena easily blocked it. Immediately, Sayuki sent another chop from the other side, but Utena was able to grab hold of her arm and stop it.

Sayuki whipped her arms away to try to release Utena's tight hold from her arms. Utena quickly released Sayuki's arms as the other girl pulled back. There was no resistance in when she pulled so Sayuki fell back too far, having to take a few steps back to try to regain her balance. 

Utena took advantage of her opponent's defenses falling for a moment to go down and quickly sweep Sayuki's feet out from under her, but her opponent saw it coming. Sayuki quickly threw herself back, and using the momentum, went into a series of back flips. 

Utena quickly jumped up and ran after Sayuki. She was there when Sayuki landed, and sent a kick her way but Sayuki blocked it solidly and grabbed her leg. Sayuki took hold of her foot and leg and wrenched it to the side. Utena felt the movement and was quickly able to avoid her ankle from twisting horribly by turning her body in the same direction. She turned so fast that her body became parallel to the ground for a moment before Utena in a crouch, landed on her feet once more. 

Sayuki was there to hit her with an overhead cut, aimed at Utena's neck, but Utena ducked to the side and did a quick cartwheel. She was able to trap Sayuki's arm between her feet as she cart-wheeled and yanked the girl's arm towards the ground as Utena landed. 

Sayuki was able to wrench her arm out before she would have been pulled off balance. She quickly balanced herself once again and went at Utena with fists flying. She again sent a quick and solid chop from the side at Utena, but Utena quickly blocked it and shoved her arm down. Sayuki tried to get a low cut in but Utena was there again to block her. 

"Utena's gotten even better than last month!" a girl near Miki and Julius quietly said to the young man standing next to her. Her expression was one of awe.

"Yeah. How'd she improve so much?" the boy asked anyone in particular. Miki and Julius listened to the comments but their eyes never left Utena and Miyasato.

Utena retaliated with another sweep and this one caught Sayuki. She fell to the mat, but she wasn't there for long. She flipped up back onto her feet with such swiftness that roused an awed gasp from their classmates and dodged Utena's kick. Utena attacked her with a right jab, which was caught, but she then was able to hit her with a left hook when she swung back the other way. Sayuki fell back a few feet. When she saw Utena had stopped and had backed off a couple yards, she brought her hand up to the side of her mouth and wiped the blood from it. Sayuki looked at her hand and then glared harder at Utena. She rushed forward, as did Utena. The two met each other halfway.

Sayuki distracted Utena's attention by going at her full force with chops and punches as she yanked Utena's foot forward by hooking Utena's ankle with her foot. Utena slid into a forward split which gained a wincing "oooohh!" from their classmates.

Sayuki stepped back, her breathing a little ragged. "So what now? Are you just going to sit there? Or are you going to go running back to your mommy?" Sayuki sneered.

Utena's expression froze upon her face. It was as if a cold wind had swept through the closed gym, chills swept down everyone's spin. Utena's eyes suddenly narrowed and she threw herself up and landed on her feet again. Utena had a deeper frown upon her face. Her eyes were almost slits and her jaw clenched. Written all over her face was rage.

Julius and Miki were both startled. It was as if they were looking into the face of a stranger. Never had they seen Utena in this state, with cold, hard, unfamiliar eyes, and her expression of anger stiffened. What had happened? Was it because of that little comment Sayuki had made?

Utena tightened her fists, all the while keeping her narrowed glare upon her opponent, not even flinching when her knuckles crackled.

Sayuki made the mistake of looking into Utena's eyes and almost froze. The wintry-blueness of her eyes were just that—icy and cold. Sayuki felt chills blistering down her spine as the other girl stare her down. Never before had Sayuki seen a girl as angry as she. Feeling intimidated, Sayuki made the mistake of taking a step back, leaving herself wide open, and that's when Utena made her move.

Flying forward with such speed that caused exclamations of awe to arise from their spectators, Utena landed a punch into Sayuki's stomach, causing the unprepared girl to stagger back yet again. Utena was a blur as she hit Sayuki again with a roundhouse kick that disoriented her. Utena grabbed Sayuki's arm and seeming-effortlessly flipped her over her shoulder. When the girl was lying on her back, barely moving, but groaning with pain, Utena stood over her.

In the last moments of consciousness, Sayuki saw Utena standing over her and heard the loud, cold words, "My mother's death, you bitch," before all was black.

Everyone was quiet and Utena's words echoed through the gym. Julius jumped up in alarm. Had he just heard correctly? The woman who he used to call "Ma" was…dead? How come no one had sent news of this? His shocked eyes met his sister's icy cold ones as she turned to him. He didn't even recognize the cold dark eyes that met his.

Utena looked at him for a long moment, before turning away without a word. She picked up her street shoes and walked across the gym and out the door, all the while feeling the eyes of everyone in the gym, especially the two most important ones, but she didn't stop, not for anyone.

**Chapter 21: Cat Fight**

Tuesday

Utena was feeling good that morning. She and Miki had spent the morning break walking through the courtyard and having a friendly debate over whether the police should follow through on their plan to end the latest problem they were focusing on: street racers. The local street racers had migrated onto the main streets of Tokyo and were, as the law enforcers said, "holding up traffic and making loud, disturbing noises which was causing too many people to complain." Miki was agreeing with the police that street racing was a dangerous sport and should be stopped, but Utena was saying that the city should build a good straight-away track that would be perfect for the street racers. The two had finally decided that whatever the police did, at least they were focused on the city street racers and not on the mountain racers, which were not as well known because of the fact that the nearby mountains were well out of the city.  These locations were absolutely perfect because there were rarely any other non-racing cars driving there at night.

Nothing seemed to be able to get Utena down as she walked down the hall in school...that is, until she saw the face of Sayuki Miyasato glaring at her before entering a classroom.

"Damn that frickin' bitch," Utena muttered to herself as the teacher entered the class.

Utena was still muttering the same things when the lunch bell rang. Miki found her with tight lips and a scowl upon her beautiful face as she practically stalked down the hall. He came up behind her and slipped an arm around her waist. "Hey," he said and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, "What's wrong? Did something happen?" he squeezed her tense side gently.

Utena relaxed into his hug and sighed. "Nah, nothing important. I failed a math test."

"Well, if you need tutoring, I can give you some lessons," Miki said with a smile. "We can study in my dorm."

Utena smirked. "Lessons on what, huh, Mr. Kaoru? Are you trying to imply something?"

Miki's cheeks turned pink. "Not exactly."

Utena chuckled. She squeezed their intertwined fingers. "Well, I'll take your offer of help with math."

"Good," Miki smiled down at her. Gazing into her eyes, he leaned down and gently placed a kiss upon her lips.

"Hey! No smooching in the hallways!" a voice screeched from behind the two.

The couple broke apart and looked behind them to see a laughing Mina and the rest of the gang. "Hey guys. What's up?"

"Oh, we were just making plans to head over to a club Saturday night. Mina found a good one that's ten minutes away if we walk."

"What do you think Miki? Do you wanna go?" Utena looked up at her boyfriend.

"Sure," Miki grinned, "sounds like fun."

"All right. We'll make all the plans and stuff later. The bell's about to ring," Seiya announced and each person headed off in the direction of his/her class.

Utena slipped into the gym just as the bell rang and Ms. Nakahara called the class to order. "Everyone, today we will be doing something different. Today we have lessons in kendo."

There were exclamations of glee and groans of dismay but everyone went to the locker rooms and changed into their gym clothes. The boys did the same after they were told the same thing by their gym teacher, Mr. Kawamoto. When they appeared in the gym again, the teacher assigned each person an "armor" uniform to wear.

Utena easily slipped into hers, while others struggled to slide on the "heavy" padding. The class assembled on the side of the gym as the top members of the Ohtori Private Academy kendo team filed in through the doors of the gym. Utena, standing in the back, easily spotted Miki and Yaten. She knew they had both been on the kendo team since they were freshmen so Utena knew they had to be good, after all, Ohtori didn't have the title of top national kendo team for nothing.

"All right class, you are now to listen to the kendo team and anyone who disobeys their orders will be written up," Ms Nakahara called out and left the gym.

"Sorry I'm late, Miki. Had a meeting to attend to," Julius was breathing hard as he hurried up to Miki and Yaten with his kendo mask under his arm and his kendo sword in his hand.

"No prob," Miki answered. "We're just showing the students some of the basic moves right now."

"All right, I'll—hey I didn't know Utena was in this class," Julius said, just spotting Utena over on the far side of the gym.

"I didn't know either until I paired up the students," Miki said, looking at his girlfriend who was talking with another girl. "She's pretty good, you know."

"Really?"

"Well, I only saw her go through a few moves but she seems comfortable with it and her form is absolutely perfect," Miki analyzed.

"Well, let's see," Julius said. He headed towards Utena.

Utena saw him before he reached her. "Hey Jul."

"Hey baby sister. How about a friendly match between siblings?" Julius invited.

"Sure," Utena agreed. She slipped on her mask and Julius did the same. As is on cue, the two siblings moved at the same time, Utena swishing her sword forward and Julius moved to block it.

A half hour and lots of sweat later, the two ended their match. As the two pulled off their mask, breathing hard and grinning, Miki and the other students, who had been watching, applauded them.

"Wow Utena, you've got some pretty fast moves there," Julius complimented his sister.

"Yeah, but they weren't fast enough," Utena said and laughed.

"Of course. I'm older, faster, and stronger. I'm always going to win, no matter what," Julius teased her.

"You better knock on wood, big brother, your luck will run out soon," Utena promised. A grin was upon her face.

"We'll see," Julius replied with a smirk.

Miki, Julius, and Yaten sat together on one of the benches as they watched the other kendo team members giving pointers to students. They talked about the upcoming martial arts competition that was to be held in three weeks.

"All right students," called out Ms. Nakahara, who had returned, half an hour later. "Now you may all have practice sessions for the upcoming martial arts demonstration. I hope you all remember the lessons from last week…" she sent them all a stern look. "When I call out your names, I want you to begin practicing with your partner. You will be paired up according to your skill level."

Utena's piercing eyes immediately shot across the room to Sayuki, who in turn was glaring right back at her. They had never been paired up before Utena hoped that she was partners with the girl, in the hopes of teaching her a lesson or two about messing with Utena Tenjou.

"Katsuhiro and Tsukino. Sato and Shirozuki. Miyasato and Tenjou….."

Utena smirked. "Perfect," she said to herself. She pulled off the "armor" for kendo and stood up. Underneath she wore her street clothes.

"…may all wear street clothes, as you did during previous sessions, if you wish," the teacher called out. "The kendo team members and I will be walking around to see if you are in a controlled match. Don't go overboard, or you'll be seeing the principal," she threatened.

Miyasato made her way across the gym and the two met in the center.

"I have to see this match," Julius said quietly to Miki. "I saw the scores of last month's matches and they were really close. If the class had been longer they would have had to face each other then."

"Yeah. Let's see how good Utena and Miyasato are," Miki said with interest.

"You ready to lose?" Sayuki smirked. The two girls circled in a seemingly-casual way, but if anyone looked closely, they would see that both girl's body's were stiff, as if ready to spring forward.

"Are _you_ ready for me to kick your ass?" Utena retorted back.

"I'd like to see you try," Sayuki looked Utena up and down with contempt.

"Something's up with these two. What do you think this is about?" he muttered to his blue haired companion.

"Well, Miyasato always was jealous of one girl or another. Maybe it's because Utena has become so popular at Ohtori?"

"Or maybe it's because you dumped her ages ago and now you're going out with Utena and won't take Miyasato back," Julius told him.

"I don't think so," Miki told him. "Miyasato knows that I don't like her in that way, so why should she be angry about Utena and me getting together?"

"Miki, you obviously don't know how a girl's mind works," Julius grinned and slapped his best friend on the back. "Miyasato's probably jealous of the fact that you like Utena better than her." Then, the two heard Sayuki's louder outburst and they turned back to the combatants.

"You're going to be sorry you ever met me, much less came to this school! I'm going to kick your ass back to wherever the hell you came from!"

"Well then bring it, slut," Utena shot back. "Let's see if you can do anything besides vandalism and sleeping with guys."

"You're calling me a slut? After you showed up here and latched on to Miki as if you owned him, you fuckin' bitch?" Sayuki said

"What did I tell you?" Julius said to Miki with a grin.

"You think you can just steal _my_ guy just because you think you're better than me? You're the slut! I'll bet you've already slept with him! Including half, if not _all_, the guys in this school!" Sayuki said it so loudly that the whole class heard it and everything stopped, every pair of eyes was upon the two, but the girls didn't take any notice. 

Miki and Julius, who had been listening to the heated conversation from the beginning, looked at each other in surprise. Mrs. Nakahara headed towards the girls to intervene, but Julius stopped her. "Let them be. It's better that they do this here than in a classroom where someone else could get seriously hurt."

The teacher looked like she was about to object, but everyone knew that the Student Council had the run of the school (the principal's wishes), so she nodded stiffly and stepped back.

Julius sat back down next to Miki. 

"I don't care what kind of sick fantasy you're playing in your head, but in reality, Miki was never "yours". And it's nobody's business whether we did or didn't!" Utena retorted back at her. "So why don't you just get a real life instead of depending on others to do the real living for you."

"You're_ so_ gonna get your ass kicked!" Sayuki practically snarled. 

Sayuki made the first move. She lunged at Utena with her fist flying, but Utena easily slid under her arm and shoved a fist into her stomach.

"Oof!" Sayuki's hand went to her stomach and she backed up, her angry eyes upon her more composed opponent. "Lucky punch." Sayuki went forward with more determination. She went for a chop from the side but Utena easily blocked it. Immediately, Sayuki sent another chop from the other side, but Utena was able to grab hold of her arm and stop it.

Sayuki whipped her arms away to try to release Utena's tight hold from her arms. Utena quickly released Sayuki's arms as the other girl pulled back. There was no resistance in when she pulled so Sayuki fell back too far, having to take a few steps back to try to regain her balance. 

Utena took advantage of her opponent's defenses falling for a moment to go down and quickly sweep Sayuki's feet out from under her, but her opponent saw it coming. Sayuki quickly threw herself back, and using the momentum, went into a series of back flips. 

Utena quickly jumped up and ran after Sayuki. She was there when Sayuki landed, and sent a kick her way but Sayuki blocked it solidly and grabbed her leg. Sayuki took hold of her foot and leg and wrenched it to the side. Utena felt the movement and was quickly able to avoid her ankle from twisting horribly by turning her body in the same direction. She turned so fast that her body became parallel to the ground for a moment before Utena in a crouch, landed on her feet once more. 

Sayuki was there to hit her with an overhead cut, aimed at Utena's neck, but Utena ducked to the side and did a quick cartwheel. She was able to trap Sayuki's arm between her feet as she cart-wheeled and yanked the girl's arm towards the ground as Utena landed. 

Sayuki was able to wrench her arm out before she would have been pulled off balance. She quickly balanced herself once again and went at Utena with fists flying. She again sent a quick and solid chop from the side at Utena, but Utena quickly blocked it and shoved her arm down. Sayuki tried to get a low cut in but Utena was there again to block her. 

"Utena's gotten even better than last month!" a girl near Miki and Julius quietly said to the young man standing next to her. Her expression was one of awe.

"Yeah. How'd she improve so much?" the boy asked anyone in particular. Miki and Julius listened to the comments but their eyes never left Utena and Miyasato.

Utena retaliated with another sweep and this one caught Sayuki. She fell to the mat, but she wasn't there for long. She flipped up back onto her feet with such swiftness that roused an awed gasp from their classmates and dodged Utena's kick. Utena attacked her with a right jab, which was caught, but she then was able to hit her with a left hook when she swung back the other way. Sayuki fell back a few feet. When she saw Utena had stopped and had backed off a couple yards, she brought her hand up to the side of her mouth and wiped the blood from it. Sayuki looked at her hand and then glared harder at Utena. She rushed forward, as did Utena. The two met each other halfway.

Sayuki distracted Utena's attention by going at her full force with chops and punches as she yanked Utena's foot forward by hooking Utena's ankle with her foot. Utena slid into a forward split which gained a wincing "oooohh!" from their classmates.

Sayuki stepped back, her breathing a little ragged. "So what now? Are you just going to sit there? Or are you going to go running back to your mommy?" Sayuki sneered.

Utena's expression froze upon her face. It was as if a cold wind had swept through the closed gym, chills swept down everyone's spin. Utena's eyes suddenly narrowed and she threw herself up and landed on her feet again. Utena had a deeper frown upon her face. Her eyes were almost slits and her jaw clenched. Written all over her face was rage.

Julius and Miki were both startled. It was as if they were looking into the face of a stranger. Never had they seen Utena in this state, with cold, hard, unfamiliar eyes, and her expression of anger stiffened. What had happened? Was it because of that little comment Sayuki had made?

Utena tightened her fists, all the while keeping her narrowed glare upon her opponent, not even flinching when her knuckles crackled.

Sayuki made the mistake of looking into Utena's eyes and almost froze. The wintry-blueness of her eyes were just that—icy and cold. Sayuki felt chills blistering down her spine as the other girl stare her down. Never before had Sayuki seen a girl as angry as she. Feeling intimidated, Sayuki made the mistake of taking a step back, leaving herself wide open, and that's when Utena made her move.

Flying forward with such speed that caused exclamations of awe to arise from their spectators, Utena landed a punch into Sayuki's stomach, causing the unprepared girl to stagger back yet again. Utena was a blur as she hit Sayuki again with a roundhouse kick that disoriented her. Utena grabbed Sayuki's arm and seeming-effortlessly flipped her over her shoulder. When the girl was lying on her back, barely moving, but groaning with pain, Utena stood over her.

In the last moments of consciousness, Sayuki saw Utena standing over her and heard the loud, cold words, "My mother's death, you bitch," before all was black.

Everyone was quiet and Utena's words echoed through the gym. Julius jumped up in alarm. Had he just heard correctly? The woman who he used to call "Ma" was…dead? How come no one had sent news of this? His shocked eyes met his sister's icy cold ones as she turned to him. He didn't even recognize the cold dark eyes that met his.

Utena looked at him for a long moment, before turning away without a word. She picked up her street shoes and walked across the gym and out the door, all the while feeling the eyes of everyone in the gym, especially the two most important ones, but she didn't stop, not for anyone.


	26. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22: Aura's Words**

'I can't believe she's gone,' Julius stood stunned. He sat back down on the bench, feeling a little shaky. He rubbed his face. 'Agh! What is going on?!' Julius screamed in his thoughts. 'How can she be gone? What happened? How long ago did she die? Was that why Utena came here? How long was Utena living by herself? What is-' Julius's many silent and unanswered questions were interrupted by a hand on his shoulder. He turned to Miki.

"Julius, you okay?" Miki asked, a concerned frown marring his handsome face. Julius could tell that his friend was genuinely concerned for him, but he saw that he was distracted.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why don't you go find Utena? She probably needs some comforting right now and I doubt she would want that from me," Julius gave him a weak smile.

Miki seemed eager to go, but still he held back, wanting to make sure his best friend was okay. "You sure?"

"Yeah. Go, your girlfriend needs you," Julius lightly shoved him towards the door.

Miki nodded and ran out the door, leaving his forgotten kendo equipment behind.

Julius heaved a frustrated sigh and ran his hand through his hair. After sitting a moment with his head in his hands, Julius grabbed up his and Miki's kendo equipment from the bench next to him and, with everyone silently watching, strode out of the gym, a deep frown set into his face.

~*~*~

'I have to get out of here. I can't take it anymore! Why did it happen? Wasn't God listening to my prayers to keep everyone around me safe? Why does everyone around me always end up in the same state one way or another?!' Utena though fiercely.

Utena walked slowly around the corner of the hall and the echo of her footsteps quickened as she picked up the pace. Rounding another corner Utena broke into a run. 'I just want to ride the wind and let it carry me away from this place, away from this cruel world.'

~*~*~

A gentle, aqua-haired girl opened her eyes and looked at her expectant companion. She said softly, "She's coming this way," and she held up four fingers to indicated the seconds until the girl's arrival.

Her light-brown haired companion nodded and stepped around the corner, the serene girl following him.

~*~*~

Utena looked up and halted in her run, just barely stopping fast enough to keep from colliding with the boy in front of her. "H-Haruka! Michiru!" she gasped in surprise.

"Whoa!" Haruka took a step back, a look of equal surprise upon his face. "I think this hallway has a speed limit, you know," he grinned. Michiru smiled quietly. "Where are going in a hurry?"

"Uh--nowhere. I-I just have to get away from here," Utena gasped for breath. She looked down at the floor, trying to hide the forming of tears in her eyes that she couldn't hold back any longer.

"Utena?" She looked up to see that Michiru and Haruka both wore concerned expressions. "Are you okay?" Michiru asked. 

"Why are you crying?" Haruka stepped forward and put a gentle hand on Utena's shoulder.

At his touch, Utena instantly recoiled. She pulled back and her eyes narrowed. Her face held a dark expression. Her eyes had turned a cold, icy blue color and her lips were pulled into a tight line.

Haruka and Michiru were startled. They had never expected Utena to look like this.

"Just-just stay away from me! Stay away!" Utena shouted and raced past them, flying down the hall with incredible speed and disappearing around the corner.

The couple's startled gazes had followed the upset girl and they now saw a trail of white rose petals appear in the sunlight that pooled on the hall floor, following the path Utena had taken. They both gasped when they saw the petals turn a crimson red and then a dark black before dissolving away, as it there had been nothing there before.

"What can this mean?" Michiru turned to Haruka in urgency.

Haruka looked down the hall. He turned back to his companion with a grave expression set into his face, "I'm not sure. But it seems the future that was foretold has just been altered."

Michiru looked down the hall. "Then we must go see _her_. Before anything else happens."

"Yes. Let's go. The sooner the better," Haruka agreed. He snapped his fingers and a flurry of blue petals swirled around them and they disappeared into thin air, the amazing performance of petals gone with them.

A moment later, Miki raced around the corner. He jerked to a halt in the middle of the hall, in the exact place Michiru and Haruka had just been standing. 'There's an aura here…something's fading away, but I can feel it. People I know were here,' Miki thought unexpectedly. He closed his eyes. A moment later he opened them again. Utena. He sensed that Utena had been here…but how? How was he able to tell? Was it because he loved her with his whole heart and soul? That must be it…there's no other explanation. Miki blinked. But there was still that little tinge of roses, different from what reminded him of Utena. It felt…feminine, yet masculine, at the same time. Two people? He closed his eyes. For a split moment, Miki thought he saw a swirl of blue petals surrounding two figures but the image was so brief that he hadn't been able to comprehend who or what they were. 'What's going on?!' Miki thought with confusion. 'Agh. I have a headache.' Holding his aching head, Miki hurried down the hall, determined to find Utena.

~*~*~

Untouchable white mist swirled around the two as they made their way up the cold stone steps, blind to where they were going, except for memories of countless climbs up these same stairs.

"Ah, you've returned," a quiet voice proclaimed to them as they neared the top. All they saw were the few steps in front of them and the mist around them.

"Of course we have, Aura. We need to know what went wrong," Haruka retorted, just as they reached the top of the staircase and came to rest on a platform in front of a higher platform with a large mirror and a beautiful young woman sitting beside it in a stone throne-like chair. The woman had the palest of green eyes and longest of jet-black hair that anyone could have ever had. Her hair trailed down the side of the chair and down the few steps it was surrounded by on the tiny platform. The mirror looked ancient, as did the wise look in the woman's eyes, although she couldn't have looked a day over twenty years of age. 

The mirror was an old-fashioned, deep-gold color and shined like it always did, as if it had been polished a few seconds before. But no one had touched the mirror in ages. It held too great a penalty to the one it was not meant for. The silver of the mirror gleamed, but it held a strange sight. When one looked into an ordinary mirror, they would see themselves. But in this particular mirror, if a person looked into it, it would show nothing but a swirl of white mist, same as the enormous cloud Haruka and Michiru had just walked through.

"Nothing went wrong, Pisces," Aura always called them by their astrological signs. "Destiny is not set in stone. It is carved, little by little, each piece chipped away from the hard marble until a magnificent form emerges from it. Every little chip of the marble alters the final product."

"Aura, why must you to talk like that all the time?" Haruka asked the girl.

"Why must we all talk the way we do? Why must we live our lives in this way? It is the same answer, Pisces. We do not choose our destiny. Our destiny is controlled by one person," Aura said in her quiet, dreamy voice.

"Yes, the one person who was in great despair over something," Michiru said. "What happened to make it this way?"

"Ah, Aries, there were a number of things," Aura told her, giving her a small rueful smile. "It seems that the evil one from the past has reappeared once more." She gestured slowly to the mirror. The mist that swirled in the silver swished to the side and an image of a disgustingly familiar girl with cold dark green eyes and jet-black hair appeared.

"Sentra!" both Michiru and Haruka exclaimed in shock.

"Yes, the Dark Maiden has returned. Somehow her body was restored, just like the Princess's, and was brought to this time and place. It seems she wishes to destroy the Princess again," Aura said with slight urgency. "And with the return of her body, also returns her jealousy and greed. She desires the Prince again. But, she has not yet fully reawakened. And when she does…" Aura trailed off, her expression grave.

"Oh no," Michiru whispered in horror.

"Yes, Aries. And it is your duty to slow her own reawakening and make sure she does not delay the return of the Princess's spirit. If she prolongs the Princess's return…the world will be in great peril, this world…and ours," Aura said softly.

"Right," Haruka said. "We'll stop anything that threatens our world, even if we have to kill the girl."

"No, you must remember, Pisces, the killing of an innocent soul upon this Earth shall cause eternal damnation to the perpetrator in this life and the next, you know that," Aura warned.

Haruka's eyes narrowed. "I'll do anything to help the Princess! If it destroys my life and soul to do so, then so be it," he proclaimed.

"Haruka!" Michiru said to him harshly. "It won't do any good to the Princess if you are gone. We are the only ones left to protect her. You must wait for the right time."

"Aries is right, as usual. You must prolong the enemy's reawakening for as long as possible, for when she is reawakened, it is not known if she will have her powers as before. But one thing is certain. If her spirit returns, she will be difficult to defeat, _very _difficult," Aura said with a frown.

"And to even be able to have a chance to defeat her, we will need the Princess," Michiru made the thought that they had all been thinking verbal.

"Yes," Aura nodded. "The Princess will need her full powers to defeat her, so you must help her to awaken quickly, as soon as you possibly can."

"All right," Haruka said grimly. "We'll do our best."

"Good. And I shall keep track of the sensors, to make certain that no other evils had reawakened in this time. I will contact you if anything occurs," Aura told them. "Good luck to you both. The future depends on you."

Both nodded solemnly and quickly started down the long flight of stairs to the magnificently decorated oak door at the bottom.

"We've got a lot of work to do so I think it's best if we split up and report to each other in the evening at my dorm room," Haruka said. Michiru agreed. Haruka put an arm around his girlfriend, noticing that she seemed distracted. "It's alright," he reassured her. "We can do this." His words were rewarded with a small smile and he lowered his mouth to hers for a quick sweet kiss as they walked through the door and into the bright white light that would take them back to the world they were needed in. Little did anyone know that the true battle was just beginning and would end with dramatic changes.


	27. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23: Utena's Last Memories of her Mother**

The pounding of footsteps filled the corridor as the girl raced on, her labored breathing her only companion. The many windows of the hall blended into the walls like paint being smeared onto a canvas, as her tears brimmed over.

Gasping for breath, Utena shut her eyes to try to block out the images she saw before her as she raced towards the front doors of the school. Not seeing the step down in the doorway, Utena stumbled and fell, sliding forward a few feet and into the thick, springy, green grass.

Instead of getting up immediately as the normally-composed Utena would have done, she laid there for a few moments, her hands curled into tight, shaking fists that were pressed against the ground. Tears streamed down her face and into the grass but Utena didn't even notice.  All she saw were the images of her mother lying in that hospital bed, her face, arms, and legs covered with bruises. When Utena had arrived at the hospital, her mother hadn't been conscious and that was Utena's last memory of her mother, in a dead-like state.

Her mother, a well-known doctor, had been raped and almost beaten to death one afternoon when she had gone shopping while Utena was at school. The bastard had knocked her mother out and had dragged her into a park where he had raped her numerous times. Utena's mother had awoken from unconsciousness during one of these times and she had started faintly screaming, her weakened voice growing stronger with each punch and every kick she endured from her attacker. Finally she had been knocked unconscious again by a sharp blow to the head and the man had continued to ravage her body. Luckily, her screams had finally attracted the attention of a young man who had been strolling in the park with his dog. The man had turned his Great Dane on the man but the attacker had been able to escape from the aged dog. Even though the young man had quickly called the police and had tried frantically to stop the bleeding, Utena's mother was in an extreme state of critical condition when she had arrived at the hospital. She was in a coma and she was bleeding internally.

Utena's school had been called and Utena had rushed to the two mile away hospital, not knowing what had happened. When she had finally stumbled into the emergency room, gasping for breath and fear and dread upon her face, it was empty, save for the familiar police, medical technicians, doctors, and nurses in the emergency waiting room. They had all looked at Utena with sympathy and Utena immediately knew that this was the last time she would ever get to see her mother. 

Her mother's friends and fellow co-workers all talked to Utena, telling her everything that had happened. With every horrible word spoken, Utena could feel each drop of blood draining from her face and felt something sharp stabbing her heart each time her mother's name was emotionally-distressingly said. They told her that her mother had been knocked into a coma and was already dying from all the blood she had lost. Finally, after what seemed like the longest summary ever to Utena, she was allowed into her mother's ICU room. Upon entering the cold box-like room, Utena had seen her mother laying on the properly-made bed, between the white and faded blue sheets, the ugly purple bruises coating her once beautiful, glowing face. Her mother now looked pale and dead. Utena couldn't blink. She couldn't even cry. Taking small shaking steps to the bed, Utena had looked down upon her mother, an emotionless expression upon her face. After a few moments, the gentle beeping of one of the machines next to her mother's bed began to emit a shrill scream. Utena took her mother's hand and when she felt how cold the pale, simple-manicured hands were, the tears started falling. Utena couldn't stop crying even after one of the nurses had come into the room and had turned off the machine. She had left to allow Utena a few more moments alone with the corpse of her mother.

Utena remembered, hugging her mother's hand to her for what seemed like the shortest of time before another nurse came in and gently pried her away from the bedside. Utena was finally able to compose herself after drinking some of the warm tea from the cup that had been handed to her as she sat in the emergency waiting room, oblivious to the few other occupants of the room. The med techs and most of the nurses had left to do their jobs, but the three police officers and two of the nurses had stayed behind to offer Utena support.

A half hour after the second nurse had been called away to her duties, two of the police officers left. The last one had stayed behind to talk to her. Officer Takato Katsuragi had been a close family friend of theirs and he was just like an uncle to Utena. Utena remember his words.

_'Utena, you're mother was like my sister, you know that…so if you need someplace to stay…my family and I would gladly take you in,' Officer Katsuragi offeredl._

_Utena looked up at him. 'No,' she had replied quietly. 'I'll be alright. Thanks anyway.'_

_'All right…' Officer Katsuragi said uncertainly. He picked up something from the table next to him. 'Uh, you're mother was carrying this when…'_

_Utena looked at the small box in the plastic bag. '…Thanks,' she said and took it._

_'Uh, I guess I should get back to work now, but if you ever need anything, you know who you can come to?' Officer Katsuragi had said and with a pat on Utena's shoulder, left through the sliding glass doors._

Utena had stared at the box, not really registering that it was the last thing her mother had touched before being dragged off. Takinga  deep breath, Utena slipped the box out of the bag and set the plastic bag on the seat next to her.

The box had been wrapped carefully with simmering blue wrapping paper and a silver ribbon. Utena carefully undid the ribbon and slid it off the box. She lifted the lid off the box and there, within the layers of blue and silver tissue paper was a star necklace. It was silver with a single, tiny white diamond in the center. Pushing the tissue back from the sides, she found a pair of sterling silver star earrings with almost identical white diamonds.

Wondering who it was for, Utena picked up the ribbon and found a small white card nestled within the exquisitely made-up bow. Opening the card, Utena read:

'To my beloved daughter Utena,

I hope your Sweet Sixteenth Birthday is the most memorable days of your life. 

You have so much to offer the world so please don't tie yourself down. You must indulge yourself in everything and anything that interests you, not just one thing. ^_^ Please don't be like me, becoming only a doctor and a mother, nothing else. I want your life to have great meaning to the world.

I know you're wondering where I got your birthday present from and to save you the time of asking me and me the time of telling you the whole story later, I will tell you now.

I received this necklace from an elderly man who was a patient at the hospital. Somehow, he knew I had a daughter and on his last day of his week's stay, he presented me with this gift to give to you. He told me that you would love it and that it would mean more to you than I would ever know. And I hope he is right. I also found a pair of earrings that I think matches the necklace perfectly, but you can decide that. Either way, I hope you will wear them.

Oops. I think I should end this now. The woman at this gift shop is letting me use her counter to write this card to you and she doesn't look too happy that I'm writing a novel. ^_^;;

I love you Utena. Never forget that.

Love Always,

Mom'

It was only then that Utena had suddenly remembered. That day was her sixteenth birthday. And her mother had been out that afternoon buying her birthday present.


End file.
